


Meddling with Time

by MugetsuPipefox



Series: Revenge Cycle [2]
Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-08 01:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3191021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MugetsuPipefox/pseuds/MugetsuPipefox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Revenge. Nethersian is back with a vengeance and when he goes back in time to wipe out Ben before he can become a threat, it's up to Gwen to convince an alternate Kevin and Syvux to help stop him. Canon pairings only.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> GUYS I FINISHED IT! I'm sooooo sorry it took so long D: Thank you for your patience.
> 
> So for those of you who are newcomers, if you haven't read 'Revenge', I highly suggest you do, else you're probably going to be horribly confused. For those of you who have read the prequel to this, Meddling is much shorter and (hopefully) will feel more like an episode of the show. I hope you like it all the same :3 I've actually completed it, so updates should be daily.
> 
> Oh, importantly, I have come to learn about the logic of time travel in uni, and this doesn't follow that logic. The show is hopeless when it comes to what can and can't be done in terms of time travel, so I'll just be rolling with what they do and all that jazz :P As always, if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to relieve your confusion.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10

All was silence within the four enclosed walls of his cell. This was nothing new. He'd been locked up there now for almost a full year, with nothing to do to pass the time. Nothing, that is, except think. That was the problem with having too much free time; it left your mind open to wander.

For Nethersian, however, this wasn't a problem.

Thinking meant planning. And planning he most certainly was. As soon as he figured a way out of this hell-hole he was going to exact his revenge on all those who did him wrong. Particularly that blasted _Ben Tennyson_ and the Arkhirathi that ruined his plans.

But, first of all, he needed to get out.

So far his thinking hadn't gotten him very far. All the food was teleported into the room by a device that could not be reached. No security officers interacted with the prisoners anymore unless it was to transport them to a different facility. Security had greatly improved since the Arkhirathi had escaped.

He would need to find a way to at least get the cell door open. Maybe if he injured himself they would transport him to a medical clinic. He quickly disregarded this plan as counterproductive. He would need to be at full health if he wanted to succeed in his escape.

Back to thinking, then.

He must have dozed off, for the next thing he knew he was being startled back into wakefulness by a figure appearing in the centre of his cell, a dark cloak concealing his features.

Nethersian sat watching suspiciously. Who was this stranger that appeared like a reflection of himself? How did they get in?

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice slightly raspy from lack of use.

"You know who I am," the figure replied in a voice that was far too similar to his own for comfort. "I am you."

"How is this possible?"

"Never mind that now. I am here to break you out."

Nethersian rose to his full height. "And how do you propose to do that? For that matter, how did you even get in?"

"There is much to be discussed, but not here," the other him placed a skeletal hand on his shoulder and without a sound they vanished.

 

* * *

 

It had been a good day. Ben could remember years ago – back when they were ten – when he and Gwen had hated the prospect of sharing a birthday; they would fight over Grandpa Max and what they were going to do…

Ben supposed that, though they were more civil, not much had really changed. They both had different ideas about they considered 'fun', but they'd grown close enough that they could compromise. Plus now there was Kevin to fight over as well. Of course, Ben would never admit that the Osmosian who had tried to kill him so often in the past was now his best friend.

This year they'd spent the whole day together. Their parents had teamed up to make a 'special birthday dinner' for them, and they hadn't even complained about the 'ruffian' they'd insisted on inviting.

That had been a few hours ago. When they'd _finally_ been allowed to get away from doting parents and various family members, they'd instantly evacuated into Kevin's car and driven off somewhere actually relaxing.

Mr Smoothy was quiet at that time of night, although it wasn't really much of a surprise. Ben, Gwen and Kevin had opted for an outside table in a corner where they wouldn't be easily spotted in case someone came looking for them.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much food on one table," Kevin said, reclining back in his chair.

"It was pretty impressive," Gwen agreed. "I'm so full I'm not sure I'll be able to finish this," she shook her cup for emphasis.

"There's _always_ room for smoothies," Ben smiled, taking a long slurp from his own drink.

Kevin and Gwen watched him with identical looks of repulsion.

"Ugh, how can you drink that stuff?" Kevin scrunched up his nose.

"I think it's worse than normal," Gwen added.

"Are you kidding? Turnip and chocolate orange is a great flavour!" Ben protested. "Besides, it's a special occasion."

"I'm surprised you didn't get cake flavour or something."

"I wanted to, but they don't sell it," he sighed.

"Do you even have tastebuds?" Kevin asked, brow raised.

"You can have more cake later," Gwen pointed out. "Mom and Aunt Sandra made enough to last for at least two weeks."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry but I have to point this out," Kevin suddenly said, his face dead serious. "Not only do your names rhyme, but you were born on the same day?"

"Yes, ha ha, aren't you clever?" Ben said sarcastically while Kevin laughed at his own discovery.

The trio looked up as a loud crash followed by several screams pierced through the silent night air. They couldn't see the source from where they were sitting but the presence of sirens in the distance alongside the fleeing mob tearing around a corner a little further down the road was more than enough evidence that _something_ was going down.

"Geez, can't even catch a break on our birthday," Ben huffed, getting to his feet.

"Might as well go check it out," Gwen copied his motion. "If it's anything alien, I doubt the police are going to be able to handle it."

"You'd think we were the only Plumbers around," Kevin grumbled.

"Well, we _did_ get put in charge of this quadrant," Ben shrugged as they moved off towards the commotion.

As it turned out, it _was_ something alien, and therefore the shots the police were firing had pretty much no effect whatsoever.

The robot was tall, about twice the size of a grown man, and its form was covered in a thick layer of red armour. It seemed to have no apparent purpose besides destroying as much of the street it occupied as was physically possible.

Suspicious.

Or just any other normal day for the three of them.

"Huh, guess the police can't handle it after all," Kevin remarked, reaching out to an abandoned car and coating himself in blue metal.

As if hearing his voice, the robot turned from the police car it had just smashed to face them, its blank red, glowing eyes revealing nothing. It raised a hand towards them, the metal appendage breaking apart and reforming into some kind of barrelled laser.

Remembering the wise words of 'if you don't know what it does, duck!' Ben, Gwen and Kevin quickly sunk down on their haunches as the first blast of many was fired. In a single elegant motion Gwen stretched a pink mana shield around them, but it quickly began to crack under the force of the shots.

Ben placed his smoothie down on the bonnet of a parked car and began sifting through the Ultimatrix's unlocked list. Making a decision, he slammed down on the dial, initiating the change.

"AmpFibian!"

In soundless agreement they split. Gwen remained in place, her shield barely holding as she sent back a few shocks of mana as a distraction while Kevin raced right and AmpFibian to the left.

Kevin, his hand morphed into a long blade, jumped up towards their assailant, using a nearby car as a springboard. The robot turned slightly, bring an arm up to block the blow and push Kevin back into a shopfront.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Gwen dropped her shield and sent two lassoes of mana which wrapped around the robot's midsection, pinning its arms to its sides. She didn't even get time to smile before it broke itself out using sheer strength.

AmpFibian held all four tentacles out before himself, propelling a jolt of high voltage electricity towards the machine. The sparks trekked across the armour before dissipating.

"It's no good!" he growled. "That armour's too thick. We need to find a way to remove some of it."

"On it!" Kevin declared, charging forward recklessly. He ducked underneath a wide blow, coming up close to the robot's chest plate and jamming his metal blade up through the gap between the sheets of armour.

The robot flung him away like he was nothing, continuing on like it hadn't just been stabbed.

"Yeah, you're 'on it' all right," Gwen said sarcastically. She focused on the laser-arm, gathering a ball of mana in her hands. With a cry she let it loose, the blast hitting its target dead-on.

Not even a scratch.

"What is this thing _made_ of?!"

AmpFibian flew up a little closer to his target. Aiming for the head, he struck out with a spray of electrified water, effectively soaking the top-half of the machine. But still it remained undamaged and unfazed by his attempts.

The three of them stood staring in shock, trying to figure out just what it would take to damage this thing.

The police were still in the area, but they stood back out of the way, weapons raised yet making no move to intervene. They'd learned from experience to leave matters like these to the professionals – well, the _other_ professionals. And if those three's supernatural attacks did nothing, their Earth weapons weren't going to be any better.

The robot had apparently gotten tired of their futile attempts. Slowly it locked on to Gwen and began charging towards her, the ground shaking under its steps. Her eyes widened in shock as she struggled to remain standing through the earthquake. When the machine was merely steps away it pulled back its arm, ready to swat her like a fly.

Gwen dodge rolled, narrowly escaping what would have been certain death as she took cover behind a hunk of rubble. The robot's arm smashed into a car, knocking it end over end, crashing repeatedly against the shattered road before it finally came to a stop a good few hundred metres away.

AmpFibian watched in horror as the cup that had been resting on the bonnet fell, its contents splattering over the tar.

"You… you killed my smoothie," he gasped, his words no more than a whisper.

"Oooh you shouldn't have done that," Kevin smirked.

"Now I'm mad!"

AmpFibian soared forwards, clinging onto the robot's back and holding on tight, even as it thrashed around trying to dislodge him. With his tentacles pressed firmly over the small gaps in the robot's armour he began to absorb the electrical energy pumping through the wires powering the machine. The robot beneath him began moving slightly slower as its power source was drained.

In an act of desperation it wrenched its laser-arm back behind it and fired. AmpFibian was struck in the chest, sending him flying. He groaned as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position, brushing off the small pieces of rubble that had settled on him.

The robot was now completely focused on the Amperi. It stalked towards him with neither hesitation nor hurry, carrying itself with an air of one so sure of one's victory that it had nothing to fear. AmpFibian's eyes widened at the metal hand about to smash him into the pavement.

Sparks erupted from the back of the robot's neck and it staggered, the red glow of its eyes flickering as it struggled to maintain its active state.

Shocked as he was, AmpFibian didn't waste the opportunity. With part of the armour ripped away, the wires inside were exposed. He dove into them, turning himself into pure energy as he rippled through the electrical circuit. Navigating his way into the robot's core he absorbed all the remaining energy coursing through its system. Then, with barely a thought, he turned that energy into a destructive force, using the build up to blow the thing apart from the inside.

The robot exploded, pieces of shrapnel raining down like deadly snow. Gwen quickly covered herself and Kevin in a dome-shield. The police within range of the debris ducked down, covering their faces with their arms.

"Told you you shouldn't have done that," Kevin grinned as the last of the metal settled and Gwen lowered her shield.

"There's hardly anything left of it," Gwen noted, nudging a small scrap of chest plate with her foot.

AmpFibian fizzled back into corporeal form before a flash of green consumed him, reverting him back into Ben.

"I have to admit, that was nicely done, Tennyson," Kevin said, sounding almost surprised.

"Wasn't all me," Ben frowned, looking down at one of the larger remaining pieces. "If those wires in its neck hadn't been pulled out I'd be a puddle of ooze on the pavement. Speaking of which," he turned and stared at the empty street behind them. "I hope you're not planning on sneaking up behind us and yelling 'boo'."

Gwen and Kevin looked at him like he'd suddenly proclaimed the sky was green.

"Um, who are you talking to?" Kevin raised a brow.

Ben ignored the question, continuing to stare at nothing.

Gwen gasped (Kevin just stared in surprise) as a familiar lanky being faded into existence, walking towards them through what remained of the street.

"You always did seem to know exactly when I was around," Syvux smiled, joining them in the darkness.

"Thanks for your help; I'd be a goner if you hadn't shown up when you did," Ben grinned. "Not that I'm complaining, but I wasn't expecting you for another few weeks."

"I decided the occasion warranted an earlier visit."

Gwen eyed the scene around them with a small frown on her face. "How about we go somewhere a little less… destroyed," she turned her gaze to the police officers hedging towards them. "Before they decide to pin us with damage costs."

“Sounds good to me,” Kevin said, stretching his arms above his head.

“And you two,” Gwen pinned an unimpressed glare on her cousin and his ghostly friend. “No more lying or keeping secrets, got it?”

“Oh, come on, Gwen, I already apologised for that like a million times,” Ben huffed.

“Things like that don’t go away with just an apology, Ben. And it’s not just that you lied; it’s that you didn’t trust us.”

“You’re right,” he sighed, his posture deflating. “Of course you are. We should have trusted you guys.”

“Promise to be more honest?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“I promise,” Syvux agreed.

“Good,” Gwen nodded in satisfaction, though she didn’t look much happier.

“I really am sorry, though,” Ben told her.

“Okay, enough talking about feelings,” Kevin interrupted, as though the mere mention of such a thing was enough to make his skin crawl. “Where to?”

 

* * *

 

"Mom, I'm home!"

Sandra stuck her head out from the kitchen doorway, a greeting on the tip of her tongue but she paused, her whole body freezing as she caught sight of the fourth member of the small group.

"You remember Syvux, right?"

The Arkhirathi in question had what appeared to be a blanket draped over him. And although she could see no part of him, the blanket itself was sign enough that it was him. It wasn't the first time she'd met the alien. After last year's events, Ben had given them what they knew to be an abridged version of the events, along with a nice list of apologies, but even that was enough to unnerve them. But for whatever reason, Ben seemed close to the… guy, and so they'd let him stay over when he visited; fear and uncomfortableness aside.

"Um, yes," Sandra replied awkwardly, watching as her son flicked off the light switch.

The only light in the room now came from what filtered in from the kitchen, but it was dim enough that it wouldn't harm the Arkhirathi, who proceeded to remove the blanket covering him.

That chilling, ghost-like frame never ceased to scare her. And the way he stared at her with blank eyes, as if looking into her very soul, made her want to run away as fast as possible. But she wouldn't. If Ben liked him enough for them to visit each other from time to time, then she could like him enough to tolerate his presence.

Her niece and her son's ruffian friend stood awkwardly beside them, neither looking like they knew what to do to break the unsettling silence that had settled over them.

"So… is it okay if he stays here? It'll only be for about a week. You'll barely notice," Ben broke the silence, apparently not having noticed the atmosphere. Or choosing to ignore it.

Sandra blinked at the question. "…Sure," she said, struggling to restrain a sigh. The things she did for her son. "Are you two staying over as well?" she asked, directing her question to the two others.

"No, we're just going to watch a movie and then we'll go," Gwen smiled, sending her silent support. Sandra was grateful.

"You are uncomfortable."

The rasping voice made her flinch with surprise and her attention snapped back to Syvux.

"I apologise. Perhaps there is something I can do to make you feel more at ease."

Now it was her turn to stare. His sincere wish to appease her made her feel guilty as the humans (and hybrid humans) watched him rummage through a small bag in his possession. Syvux gave a short cry of success as he pulled out what appeared to be a plain mask. Sandra wasn't sure if it would make him any less creepy.

"Is that…?" Ben's brows rose.

"It's an ID mask," Kevin identified. "Just a regular one," he added, remembering the special one he'd 'acquired' after last year's incident.

Syvux nodded his affirmation, placing the mask over his face.

Sandra could barely believe her eyes. Where once had been an extraterrestrial being she could barely comprehend now stood a young _human_ man. There were still similarities between this form and his old one – his hair, for instance, had taken on the charcoal colour of his body, and his eyes were such a pale grey they were almost white – but overall it was like he'd become a completely different person.

"Is that better?" Syvux asked, and she noted that even his voice was slightly less raspy.

She nodded dumbly.

Syvux smiled warmly at her and the guilt struck again.

"Okay, so is it okay if we watch in here, or do you want me to move the TV to my room?" Ben didn't take his eyes off his friend even as he spoke. It seemed he, like everyone else in the room, was transfixed by the change.

"No, you can watch in here. But don't stay up all night, alright?" And with that Sandra took her leave, eager to get away before she made an even bigger fool of herself.

Ben moved over to the TV while Gwen, Kevin and Syvux flopped down on the couch.

"Anyone got any preferences for what we watch?" Ben asked, sifting through a stack of DVDs.

"Anything except Sumo Slammers," Gwen replied.

Ben grumbled but didn't protest.

Syvux was rummaging through his bag again, but this time he pulled out two small packages, the first of which he passed to Gwen and the second was thrown to Ben, who deftly caught it before it could hit the TV.

"I believe the Earthling phrase is 'happy birthday'," he smiled.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," Gwen beamed, gently unwrapping her gift. A beautiful bracelet fell into her open hand. The fibres of string appeared to be made of thin strands of silver, which held mesmerising glowing beads with silver linings. "It's beautiful," she breathed, fastening it around her wrist. "Thank you."

"It is more than just a mere decoration," Syvux informed her. "That bracelet has special… properties. So long as you are wearing it, it will protect you from certain 'magic' and extradimensional forces."

By that point Ben had likewise unwrapped his own package, albeit less gracefully than his cousin. The item inside was not as flashy as Gwen's bracelet, but he found the silver tear-drop-like pendant still took his breath away.

"I was not sure of an appropriate gift," Syvux began, watching the human carefully. "I doubt there is anything I could give you that would express the gratitude I feel. That pendant belonged to someone very important to me whom I have since lost and, I feel, now, its proper place is with you."

Ben's head snapped up so that his gaze was locked with the Arkhirathi's. "I can't accept this. It means so much to you!"

"I want you to have it," Syvux insisted. "Besides, I was under the impression that returning gifts was rude."

Ben returned the smile, huffing in defeat. "Thank you; I promise to take good care of it."


	2. Separation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to give a huge thank you to ngrey651 for their very helpful concrit and feedback regarding a loose end from Revenge. There is now an added passage in the first chapter (section where Syv shows up) which will hopefully be a step in the right direction.
> 
> Now for chapter 2!
> 
> Disclaimer: IDOB10

Gwen and Kevin had intended to go home after the movie finished. Keyword: intended. But they'd all fallen asleep before the end. They woke up to the looping music of the menu screen and quickly shut it off before it could wake Ben's parents.

Ben was lying awkwardly in the armchair, his legs dangling over the armrest and a small trail of drool dripping down his cheek. Gwen rolled her eyes and gently shook him awake while Kevin did the same for Syvux.

"Huh? Wha?" Ben mumbled. "What time is it?"

"It's ten past nine," Gwen replied, enticing a groan from her cousin. "We're going out for breakfast and figured you'd want to come with us." Also so that Sandra wouldn't have to wake up to find Syvux sleeping on the couch.

"Smoothie…" Ben rolled off the chair and ran a hand down his tired face.

"Yes, we can get smoothies," Gwen rolled her eyes again.

Syvux was in a similar state. With the mask on, his face had become more expressive – or maybe they just didn't know how to read his emotions in his normal form. Either way he looked dead on his feet as he followed alongside Ben out to Kevin's car. The pair of them were reminiscent of zombies.

Gwen remembered too late Syvux's weakness against light (apparently his own mind was working too slowly for even him to remember) and by the time she called out in warning, Syvux had already stepped out into the sunshine.

They all paused and turned to him, suddenly a little more alert.

Syvux made eye contact with her, then looked up at the sky before finally settling his gaze on his body.

"It would appear the mask is preventing the normal reaction," he informed them. "All I'm feeling is a slightly unpleasant warmth."

Ben made a little 'huh' noise and they continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Good to know," Kevin added.

Gwen shook her head and hurried to catch up with them.

 

* * *

 

The drive was rather quiet. Ben had fallen asleep again within a few minutes of their departure and Syvux looked as though he'd join him at any moment. Gwen wanted to nod off again herself, but she resisted, distracting herself by talking with Kevin.

"Something's still bugging me about that robot we fought last night," Kevin said.

"What about it?"

"It wasn't a Techadon… and it didn't have any distinctive markings. So what was it doing here? I'm not buying that it was just to mess up a street."

Gwen frowned in thought. He had a point. The whole thing just reeked with suspicion. "Too bad there wasn't enough left of it to identify."

"Maybe it was just a dis–" Kevin was cut off as something slammed down on the bonnet of the Challenger, sending the back half of the vehicle up into the air.

With a heavy slam, all four wheels returned to the tarred road, shaking awake any remnants of sleep.

"What's happening?" Ben gasped, startling into wakefulness.

"What the–?" Kevin surveyed the damage through the cracked windscreen. "My car!"

"I think we have bigger problems right now!" Gwen yelled, throwing her weight against the door to force it open.

The others quickly followed her lead, barely managing to escape the confines before their assailant returned, this time pounding against the roof and crumpling what remained of the vehicle.

The cloaked figure held himself up to his full height, surveying them all through the dark shadows of his hood.

"What?" Ben gasped, instantly recognising him. " _How?!_ "

"Geez, for a high-tech prison ship, Galactica doesn't really seem to have a very good security system!" Kevin snapped, reaching down to cover himself in concrete.

"You're going to wish you'd stayed in prison!"

Ben flinched at the furious declaration; he hadn't heard that tone for a long time. Syvux's form wavered, shifting until he once more resembled his natural form. Although, judging from the fact that none of them had seen him take it off and he wasn't frying like an egg, he was still wearing the ID mask.

Nethersian didn't so much as raise an arm to defend himself. He seemed almost amused as Syvux drew ever closer. The Arkhirathi slashed out with his claw-like hands, fully intent on ripping the alien's throat out.

Nethersian vanished.

They all froze.

"That's new," Gwen commented. She glanced over at her allies and ice seized in her chest. "Ben, look out!"

Ben's attention snapped to the figure that had suddenly appeared behind him, but not quick enough. A hand smacked into the side of his head, sending him flying into the remains of the Challenger where he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Ben!"

"Nobody beats him up but me!" Kevin growled, morphing his hand into a mallet and swinging out at Nethersian.

But like before the alien disappeared before the blow could connect. Kevin grit his teeth, trying to relocate the enemy, only to have him reappear right behind him a second later. A well placed kick to the small of his back had Kevin slamming into a nearby building.

"I suppose I should have learned by now," Nethersian said in distaste. "If you want something done right you have to do it yourself."

"You?" Gwen's eyes widened in realisation. " _You're_ the one who sent that robot?"

"My, my, aren't we clever?" the ex-emperor sneered. Apparently not seeing her as a threat, Nethersian turned away from her, stalking towards where Ben was slowly pushing himself upright.

A pink shield cut across his path, stopping him in his tracks. "If you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me!" Gwen shouted.

"Don't worry, little pest," Nethersian said sickeningly sweetly as he easily punched a hole right through her shield, breaking it into shards. "You'll get your turn. But first, I have a score to settle."

By this point Ben had gotten to his feet, leaning heavily against Kevin's car to keep himself upright. Hunched over as he was, his assailant seemed taller than usual as he reached a hand out towards his neck… only to promptly vanish once more.

Syvux cursed under his breath, appearing where the ex-emperor had just been. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern temporarily overcoming anger.

"Fine," Ben managed, clearly a lie, and reached for the Ultimatrix. "Humungousaur!"

On unsteady feet, Humungousaur raced towards where Nethersian was now standing. The alien was far too relaxed, only serving to make them all the angrier. He pulled back a fist, ready to pummel the guy into dust but Nethersian was gone before he'd gotten the chance. He staggered, struggling to slow his momentum.

Nethersian took advantage of his sudden weakness, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him into the side of a building like he weighed nothing more than air. With its support taken out, the rest of the structure fell, covering Humungousaur in a layer of debris.

Humungousaur groaned as he sat, ignoring the rubble that tumbled off him with the movement. The alien had gotten stronger. And had somehow learned to teleport.

There must be something about being stuck in prison that made people stronger and craftier… probably all that free time for thinking and devising plans.

In their last encounter, Ben had been able to gain the upper hand with Swampfire, but the Methanosian was no longer in the unlocked list. He would need to come up with a different solution this time.

Across the street a chunk of concrete was thrown aside, revealing a battered looking Kevin, pieces of his shell cracked and crumbling. He quickly swapped it for the steel of a structural beam lying at his feet.

Gwen too was looking a little worse for wear. Her attacks were having no effect – Nethersian simply teleported out of the way before they connected. And even Syvux, with his invisibility and intangibility, was having no luck getting a hit in.

"Any of you got a plan?" Kevin asked.

"I believe the plan was to 'hit him until he stops moving'," Syvux replied, becoming visible in the space between Humungousaur and Gwen. "But that doesn't seem to be working."

"Shame," Kevin smirked. "I liked that plan."

"Did we have a plan B?" Humungousaur eyed the alien standing proudly in the centre of the street, seemingly unconcerned that he was now surrounded.

"Considering we didn't even know this was coming, I think we were lucky to even have a plan A," Gwen said, summoning her magic book into the air before her. "Buy me some time."

"You got it!" Humungousaur charged, fists clenched. But like the past however many attempts, his attack merely passed through empty air.

With nothing now between them, Kevin and Humungousaur collided, causing the Osmosian to fall flat on his back. Humungousaur staggered a few steps further, recollecting his balance.

"The alien, Tennyson," Kevin snapped. "Not _me_."

"Sorry," Humungousaur helped him to his feet, gazing around frantically for their foe.

Behind Gwen! With her eyes glowing pink and the pages of her book flipping a mile a minute, she was completely unaware of the threat that had suddenly popped up behind her.

They wouldn't get there in time.

Hand poised to strike, Nethersian vanished mid-blow, reappearing atop a pile of rubble a short distance away. Humungousaur had never been happier that Syvux was on his side.

The Arkhirathi growled at having missed his target, returning once more to invisibility. Humungousaur shared his sentiments.

How were they supposed to fight an enemy they couldn't touch?

Maybe he needed a switch in game-plan.

"Fine, let's see how you like this!" Humungousaur slapped the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest. "Nanomech!"

Nanomech sighed. "This is not what I wanted."

Kevin smacked the palm of his hand into his forehead. "We're doomed."

The pages of Gwen's book stopped turning and she thrust her hand out towards Nethersian. " _Eradico!_ " she shouted.

A large explosion erupted where the ex-emperor had been standing. They all watched in silence, holding their breaths as the dust cleared, hoping against hope that they'd finally made an impact. The cloud of dust settled, revealing a doubled over Nethersian, gripping his waist. And then he was gone again.

Despite that, Kevin gave a celebratory fist-pump. Finally, _finally_ , they'd gotten a hit in! Their collective motivation got a huge ego boost as they discovered Nethersian was not, in fact, invincible.

Nanomech hovered silently, watching the scene unfolding around him and trying to think things through carefully. How was Nethersian suddenly able to teleport at will? It couldn't have been a natural ability, or he would have used it in their last encounter. So what had changed?

If Nethersian was responsible for the robot attack, then clearly he had access to some dangerous tech. Which meant it was highly possible that this teleportation was the result of a tech upgrade, too.

In which case he could do something about it.

The ex-emperor hadn't moved from his current position, watching them all intently. Syvux was who knew where, sticking to stealth mode while Gwen and Kevin stood defensively, looking as if they were trying to figure out their next move.

Satisfied there were more interesting things for Nethersian to worry about than a metal speck, Nanomech darted forwards, shrinking himself down to microscopic size. He landed daintily on the alien's shoulder successfully.

All at once his vision swam, colours and sounds blurring momentarily, and when everything righted itself once more he found he was looking down at his allies.

Nethersian had teleported again.

But how?

A flashing light caught his attention and he flew closer for a better look. A strange metallic, cylindrical device was hanging around the alien's neck by a chain, a small red light flashing several times before it suddenly switched to a steady green. Interesting.

Being careful not to draw attention to himself, Nanomech increased his size gradually and held out both hands towards the device.

"This looks important!" he said, launching a bright beam of bioelectrical energy.

Nethersian cried out in shock and rage as the small piece of tech sparked and fizzled, little jolts of electricity zipping about its form. The light gave one last, sad flash before dulling to grey. Considering it a job well done, Nanomech zoomed off; taking on a being so many times his size was not a situation he wanted to get involved in.

In his brief distraction, Nethersian was unprepared for the blast of mana that struck him. He stumbled, off balance, and fell from his pile to the broken road below.

Kevin seized the opportunity and charged forwards, a battle cry on his lips. He was almost as surprised as his target when the blow connected, sending the alien tumbling backwards.

"Heh, looks like you're out of tricks," Kevin smirked as he stalked towards his downed prey.

Nethersian growled, pulling himself back to his feet and fixing the Osmosian with a level stare. "Not quite," he said. From within the folds of his cloak he pulled out yet another device, this time in an almost phone-like shape.

Kevin stopped mid-step, not recognising the tech.

With a beep and a flash the Ultimatrix timed out, leaving Ben standing where Nanomech had been. A good distance away Syvux returned to visibility.

"Take this time to say your last words to _Tennyson_ ," Nethersian sneered, pressing a button.

A loud crack and a swirl of distortion disturbed the silent air and the four of them were forced to shield themselves from the torrent of wind that had whipped up. By the time everything settled once more, Nethersian was gone.

And this time he didn't reappear.

_"Take this time to say your last words to Tennyson."_

The alien's words echoed in his head like a demonic mantra. Confused, Ben looked down at his hands and his eyes widened in horror. He was hardly aware of his friends' staring at him, their expressions mirroring his own. Nor did he register their cries of alarm. His gaze was completely focused on his body. His _fading_ body.

He was disappearing.

"W-What?" he stuttered in disbelief.

"Ben!"

His attention snapped up to his cousin, her body clearly visible through his transparent hand. She was running towards him, hand outstretched as if she could keep him rooted in reality by merely grabbing onto him.

By the time she reached him there was barely anything left except a thin, hazy outline of what had once been. Her outstretched hand caught hold of the pendant around his neck and held on tight. But her struggle did nothing to stop her cousin's disappearance. In a matter of seconds he was gone.

Too shocked to properly process what had just happened, Gwen looked down at the pendant clutched in her fist – it had regained corporeal form as soon as she'd touched it.

What had just happened? Why had he suddenly faded away?

Her mind heavy with unanswered questions, Gwen turned to face her two remaining companions. All thoughts slipped from her grasp.

Kevin and Syvux were gone.

And, even as she stood rooted in shock, the world around her changed.


	3. Change

Gwen blinked owlishly at her new surroundings, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing. There was no doubt this was the same street she'd been standing in not a minute ago, and yet it felt as though that place was a world away.

The damage that their fight had dealt was gone, yet what she stared at now was in no way better. While the road was less cracked and the closest buildings not piles of rubble, the buildings all along the street were worn and crumbling, some with windows and doors completely barred with wooden planks.

Burnt out husks of what were once cars were scattered in a few places along the road, but there were no signs of any traffic and none of the totalled vehicles were Kevin's Challenger. Only a few of the shops appeared to still be in use, and even those were falling apart.

And the people. There were barely any walking around on the sidewalk, and those that were kept their gazes down and shoulders hunched as if expecting to be attacked at a moment's notice.

And maybe they would be. Mingled amongst them were what appeared to be guards. They were all dressed in the same uniform armour, some sort of blasters held ready in their grips. Their blank visors watched silently and passively at the humans passing them by. And they were all completely alien.

Why weren't the people freaking out? Sure, they clearly weren't happy or comfortable and Ben's transformations had significantly increased the chance of extraterrestrial sightings, but still! It was like having clearly alien soldiers patrolling the town was a normal occurrence.

One of the security guards was eyeing her suspiciously. She'd been staring too long and clearly looked out of place. And something told her it would be a bad idea to let herself get caught by these guys.

Gwen quickly lowered her gaze and hurried off in the opposite direction before any of them had a chance to catch and question her.

What could she do? Nethersian had done something, she was sure of it. And whatever it was, it had made Ben and the others disappear. She was certain it had also caused all these changes to Bellwood.

She needed to find Ben.

Ignoring the echoing words Nethersian had uttered, Gwen fished into her pocket, pulling out her phone and pressing Ben's speed dial.

_Please pick up. Please pick up. Please pick up._

"Your call could not be connected,"

the recorded woman's voice informed her and Gwen pressed the end call button. A small frown pulled at her features as she read the words printed on the screen of the device: _no service available_.

Gwen unclenched her right hand and looked down at the pendant she had forgotten she was holding. It had been in Ben's possession for less than a day, so likely it had not been in contact with him long enough to use as a tracker.

Making a decision, Gwen fastened the pendant around her neck and set off in the direction of her cousin's house. If he wasn't there, she could use one of his belongings to track his energy signature. At least, she hoped so.

 

* * *

 

It was a good half hour before she arrived and she was pleased to note that it looked much the same as it had that morning, if perhaps showing a few signs of wear and neglect. She silently walked up the short path, rang the doorbell and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Maybe no one was home. But they hadn't been out for long, and Sandra had still been in bed when they'd left. With a growing pit of concern developing in her stomach she tried the handle. Locked; just as she'd suspected.

Uttering the words of an unlocking spell, the door gave a small click and swung open.

The interior was exactly as Gwen remembered it, except for one minor detail. None of the pictures on the walls were recent. She stood in the doorway momentarily, trying to listen for any sounds, but nothing reached her ears. Perhaps her aunt really had gone out. But she didn't have time to dwell on it now; something was going on and she needed to figure out what.

She was mildly surprised to find Ben's bedroom door was locked. While he'd occasionally have it shut, it was very rare for him to lock it; he had no reason to. Especially since he hadn't even slept in his room the previous night. She unlocked it in much the same way as she had the front door.

The first thing she noticed was how dim the lighting was. The curtains were pulled almost completely shut, only a thin sliver of light reaching in from between the material and illuminating the room.

An unidentifiable pang struck her chest as the sense of _wrongness_ returned.

This was not the room of a sixteen year old.

There were less figurines lining the shelves, and the sports medals Ben was so proud of were nowhere in sight. The posters on the walls had changed and the once plain bed sheets now sported a Sumo Slammers spread. Clothes that were clearly far too small and dozens of papers and books littered the floor and various pieces of furniture in messy heaps. A few model space ships hung lifelessly from the ceiling.

Baffled beyond reason, Gwen numbly strode over to the bed and lifted a familiar black-striped T-shirt lying there, unfurling it and holding it out in front of her. How many times had she seen her cousin wear this shirt? But none of those times were recent.

Something was very wrong here.

This was the room of a ten year old.

Gwen's eyes took on a deep pink glow as she extended her mana into the shirt, her frown increasing when she was unable to locate Ben's energy signature. It was like last year all over again.

Gwen flinched, barely managing to put up a shield as something came at her from behind. Her eyes locked onto her aunt, who seemed just as shocked and confused as she was. Gwen removed her shield as Sandra lowered her weapon – a frying pan.

There was a long moment of silence as they stared at each other. The woman somehow appeared to have aged overnight. Her eyes seemed to hold less… less _spark_ , and there were feint worry lines creased into her forehead and around her eyes.

"Um… sorry for… you know, breaking in," Gwen gestured weakly.

"Gwendolyn," somehow Sandra's voice conveyed both relief and anger simultaneously. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was hoping to find Ben, actually," she admitted, looking down at the shirt still clasped in her grip. "But I can't trace his mana."

Sandra's gaze followed her niece's. At the sight of the shirt, her face grew cold, her expression dark. Without a single word she snatched the piece of clothing from Gwen's hand and meticulously placed it back where it had been, almost in exactly the same position.

"Aunt Sandra?"

The woman ignored her, grabbing her wrist in an almost painful grip and hauled her out of the room, locking the door behind them.

"Aunt Sandra," Gwen repeated, a little more desperately.

"You should know better than to go in that room," Sandra said quietly, her back to Gwen.

"I… I'm sorry?"

Sandra turned, and it did not escape Gwen's notice that her eyes were shiny with the promise of tears. "Why are you here, Gwen?" she asked, almost pleadingly. "You of all people should know the risk you're taking. And I can't think for a minute that Max would let you come out here; especially on your own."

…What? "Aunt Sandra, I have no idea what you're talking about. Like I said, I was looking for Ben. There's something weird going on and–"

"Enough!"

Gwen flinched a second time, her voice faltering.

"Is this some kind of sick joke? Do you think it's fun to play with peoples' emotions like this?"

"Joke? What are you talking about? I'm serious; there's something going on–"

"I think you should leave."

"What?"

"I said leave. Get out of here before they find you."

'They?' Her aunt was really crying now, but she seemed not to notice the tears streaking down her cheeks. What on Earth was going on? She wanted to ask questions, find out exactly what the woman was talking about, but Sandra's apparent break down had stunned her into silence. Before she even registered what she was doing she was walking towards the door.

"The back door," Sandra corrected, making her pause. "It's not safe for you to be wandering around in plain sight."

 

* * *

 

The town looked like it had faced a war, there were aliens wandering around like they owned the place, Ben's room had gone back in time, and Aunt Sandra was acting weirdly. _Yep_ , Gwen thought, _there is definitely something strange going on_.

Not to mention Ben, Kevin and Syvux had vanished without a trace. Her phone was out of service, and she couldn't even track… Of course!

Gwen reached into her pocket and pulled out her Plumber's badge. Even if her phone didn't work, she should still be able to use the communication network the badges provided.

"Hello? Ben? Are you there?"

Silence.

"Okay… this is getting weirder," she switched targets. "Kevin? Can you hear me?"

Nothing. Gwen sighed. Now what was she going to do? Maybe Grandpa Max?

"Grandpa? It's Gwen; please answer."

Again she received no reply.

" _Hello? Who is this?_ "

She nearly jumped at the sudden, beautifully familiar voice. "Kevin, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice."

" _Um… okay? Who are you and how did you know I have a badge?_ "

That made her pause. "Kevin, it's me; Gwen."

" _Sorry, don't know anyone by that name. Look, do you want something from me or are you just wasting my time?_ "

"Kevin this isn't funny. It's Gwen. You know, Gwen Tennyson, your… friend?" Something told her mentioning their relationship would be a bad idea.

" _Tennyson?"_ a pause. _"Oooh you're that bossy cousin of Ben's, right? That still doesn't answer my question, though. And you're definitely not my friend._ "

"Ben! Do you know where he is?"

" _…_ "

"Kevin?"

" _Are you seriously asking me that?_ "

"Please, Kevin."

" _Did you hit your head or something?_ "

"No! Look, I don't know what's going on and I don't know who else to turn to."

There must have been a hint of her helplessness in her voice because the next thing she knew he asked, " _Ugh, fine. Where are you?_ "

Gwen glanced around at her surroundings. She'd wandered a short distance from her cousin's house. She gave him the street name.

" _Alright. I'll be at Mr Smoothy in ten minutes. If this is a trap…_ "

"It's not a trap, I promise. I'll be there."

The connection cut out and Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. Kevin was acting weird, too, but at least it was a start. Agreeing to meet with her was a good sign, right? Not wasting any time, she quickly set off in the direction of the nearest Mr Smoothy.

 

* * *

 

Kevin had no idea what he was doing. Since when did he agree to meet random strangers – who, might he add, held close relation to the kid he'd tried to kill time and again – purely because they sounded scared and genuinely relieved to hear his voice?

Man, he was totally going soft. Maybe he'd have to go kick some puppies or something to make up for it.

The designated Mr Smoothy was more than a little run down, but it was one of the few remaining of its chain in Bellwood. There was only one person waiting outside when he got there; a girl with long red hair tied back in a ponytail, sitting at one of the tables. She looked up at the sound of his car pulling up in front of her and the smile that found its way onto her face had him stumped.

She really was glad to see him, huh? Weird.

She was also very pretty, he suddenly realised.

"This better be important," he told her as he got out of his car.

She was frowning now, something akin to worry or confusion or maybe a bit of both on her face.

"You mean… you really don't remember?"

"Remember what?" he rebuked.

She didn't say anything, looking down at her feet and wrapping her arms around herself.

"What did you want?" Kevin calmed his voice, hoping the less threatening tone might make her a little more comfortable. Wait. Why did he care if she was comfortable or not?

"What's… what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Kevin raised a brow.

"I mean, one minute we're fighting Nethersian and the next you, Ben and Syvux disappear and everything changes!" Gwen cried. She glanced back at the shabby building behind her. "Most of the buildings are falling apart, there are weird alien guards roaming around and I've hardly seen anyone at all in the last two hours!"

"You sure you weren't having a weird dream or something?"

"No, Kevin, it wasn't a dream."

"Well, I have no idea who 'Syvux' is, but if you saw Ben, it can't have been real," he replied carefully. "Not to mention I haven't seen you for like five years."

She was gaping at him now, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open slightly. "W-what do you mean 'if I saw Ben it couldn't have been real'?"

Now it was Kevin's turn to frown. She really didn't know? How was that possible? He heaved a heavy sigh, ready to tell her something she should have already known and definitely wasn't going to like.

Laser fire struck the ground not a metre from where he was standing. With a curse, Kevin spun, quickly locating the alien officer charging towards them with blaster raised. "Damn, I knew this was a bad idea!"

"What? Why are they shooting?" Gwen asked, bringing up some kind of pink shield to block the oncoming fire.

She really _must_ have hit her head. He couldn't come up with any other explanation. But where there was one guard, more were sure to follow. Without really thinking he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her over to the car.

"Get in!" he ordered.

Gwen didn't even hesitate, throwing open the passenger door and sliding into the seat like she'd done it a thousand times. In a matter of seconds Kevin had floored the accelerator and they were tearing off down the street.

"I don't know what's going on with you, but it's starting to freak me out," he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Why did they shoot at us?"

"Because I'm a wanted criminal and so are you."

"What?! _You_ I can understand–"

"Hey!"

"But _me_? I am not a wanted criminal."

"Course you are," Kevin said with a roll of his eyes. "You sneak around, make raids, generally fight back against the Emperor. Sounds like a criminal to me."

"Wait, Emperor?"

This time he really did look at her. "What, have you been living under a rock? Emperor Nethersian!"

Gwen fell silent and turned to stare out the window with an expression of numb shock. They travelled without a word for a good five minutes before she asked, "Where are we going?"

"You asked me where Ben is. I'm taking you to him."


	4. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little on the short side, sorry :I
> 
> Disclaimer: IDOB10

After hearing of their destination, the journey had lapsed into silence. Gwen was a mixture of emotions. On the one hand she was confused, scared and anxious about the whole situation. The world as she knew it had ceased to exist; everything had changed. And apparently she was part of some kind of resistance group against an emperor whose Empire she was sure had been destroyed.

On the other hand she was calm – perhaps more so than she should have been – and a sense of ease had washed over her. She suspected it had something to do with Kevin's presence in the seat beside her. Even though he, too, had been affected by whatever was going on, he had still heard her out and come to get her. He'd helped her escape from the alien security, and had given her more answers than she'd gotten all day; albeit not nearly as many as she would have liked, and having him look at her like she was an amnesiac or insane didn't do much for her inner turmoil.

But he was taking her to Ben. That was something, at least. And from the sounds of things even in this messed up world Kevin and Ben knew each other. They could still fix things.

"We're here," Kevin's voice jolted her from her thoughts.

They'd pulled up beside a large lot surrounded by a black metal fence and a row of hedges. It was the first peaceful scene she'd come across since her friends had disappeared.

But it was a grim peacefulness.

Gwen opened her mouth to say something but the words wouldn't come, stuck somewhere in her throat. She turned her attention to Kevin and the sad frown he was giving her did nothing to appease the pain that had gathered in her chest.

Without a word the Osmosian slid from the vehicle and walked through the main gate of the lot. Gwen copied his actions with numb detachment.

No words were exchanged in the short walk. Kevin led the way, walking a few paces ahead without looking back. He seemed to know where he was going and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

And then all at once they were there.

The words burned her eyes and branded her mind and she fell to her knees in the soft grass, barely aware of the tears that had started falling down her cheeks like she'd been dealt a physical blow.

"You really didn't know," Kevin's voice was soft, lilting with his realisation.

But Gwen didn't register the words. Her attention was focused solely on the inscribed stone before her.

 _Benjamin Tennyson_  
1995-2006*  
Beloved son, determined protector;  
The world is a darker place without you

How?

How? How? How? _How? HOW?_

It wasn't possible. How could it be possible? She'd seen him that very morning. She'd talked to him. She'd _touched_ him! How could he have died so long ago when he'd been so alive only hours before? How could everything have changed so suddenly and without warning?

How was she the only one who realised something was wrong?

"It's wrong," she whispered without realising. "It's wrong."

Kevin, standing behind her, said nothing.

Something had happened that caused this. There was no other explanation. Nethersian had done something when he'd disappeared.

And suddenly she thought she knew what.

With renewed determination Gwen pulled herself to her feet and turned to Kevin, wiping her eyes with the heel of her palm.

"Where's Grandpa Max?" she asked, pleased that her voice hadn't shaken.

"Why are you asking me?" Kevin frowned. "How should I know? You're the resistance fighter here."

"No, I'm not," Gwen shook her head. "I'm not from here."

Kevin raised a brow that clearly displayed his scepticism.

Gwen took a deep breath. He was probably going to think she was insane. Well, more so than he already did. "Ben was alive this morning."

The other eyebrow rose.

"We were fighting Nethersian. You were there, too. He had some kind of tech and after he disappeared, so did Ben. I think he might have gone back in time and… and killed Ben before he could meet Syvux and stop him the first time. That's why everything's different."

Kevin didn't look like he believed her. "If that was the case then why are you here? If the rest of us changed, then you should have, too."

Gwen bit her lip. She didn't have an answer for that because it was a question she was asking herself. Why did she remember that but have no recollection of the present?

_"It is more than just a mere decoration. That bracelet has special… properties. So long as you are wearing it, it will protect you from certain 'magic' and extradimensional forces."_

Syvux's voice echoed in her head and she looked down at the glowing bracelet fastened around her wrist. Was it just her imagination or was it a little brighter than it had been that morning? Her eyes widened as the full implications of the Arkhirathi's words sunk in and she realised exactly what had happened.

"Because of this," she proclaimed, raising her hand so Kevin could see the piece of jewellery. "This was given to me yesterday by Syvux. He told me it would protect me from certain 'magic' and extradimensional forces. When the timeline was altered, I was protected from the changes by this."

Kevin still looked sceptical but seemed to accept the explanation. "Okay then, what about all the resistance work you've been doing? If you're from 'another timeline', then does that mean there are two of you, or…?"

Two of her. That was a scary thought. But it was a logical conclusion – after all, she hadn't had anything to do with this timeline and it wasn't like she had just ceased to exist. Which meant there would be another her – like when she'd gone back in time to stop Kevin's mutation that time. There'd been two of her then. Her current life was one that existed outside of the time-stream.

"Yeah, there's probably another me around somewhere…" she conceded. "…Which means I may be able to use that as a basis for finding where the resistance and Grandpa Max are."

It was weird, she decided, to track herself. As she'd expected, she'd picked up two signals – herself and the other her. Kevin was watching her with an indecipherable expression on his face; like he wasn't sure whether to be amazed or sceptical.

"Got it."

 

* * *

 

A dump. The resistance base was in a dump. Well, he had to admit it was clever; no one would think to find a bunch of rebels toiling through garbage.

Kevin parked his car between two large piles of trash where it wouldn't be easily spotted. He just hoped those piles were stable. The last thing he wanted to do was dig his ride out of a pile of garbage.

Speaking of which, why was he even here? Sure, the graveyard was a fair distance from this particular site, but he certainly didn't owe the red-head beside him anything. She claimed that they'd been friends (along with Ben – which he found incredibly hard to believe) from whatever whack-o timeline she was from (and even that was barely believable), but that was a different Kevin.

Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was boredom. Maybe it was that spaceship she'd promised him (she'd seemed to realise there was nothing really in it for him and as a joke he'd requested a spaceship as payment. Apparently she had one to give). Whatever it was, he still found himself walking alongside her as they navigated through the rubbish following whatever mystical trail Gwen was seeing.

"It's through here," she announced as they came to a stop in front of a particularly large heap.

"You sure? I'm not seeing it," he replied, eyeing the trash dubiously. She wasn't expecting him to crawl through it, was she?

"It's just a disguise," she said, stepping forward and tugging on an empty can.

Kevin stared as a wall of rubbish swung open like a door, revealing a darkened metal corridor inside.

"Well what do you know," he grinned, following the strange version of Gwen inside. The door closed behind them.

It was like no base either of them had ever seen. Rather than sleek and high tech, this was more like a hide-out; pieces of it made from scraps clearly having been found in the landscape outside. There were doors made of modified tables, access panels from calculators and old phones, even part of the floor and walls were clearly second hand.

They had yet to come across any of the rebels that inhabited the place, but it was only a matter of time. Chances were they already knew they were there.

Gwen turned down corner after corner, knowing the way with absolute certainty. Kevin was a little uncomfortable with the prospect of coming across _another_ her.

"Gwen."

The pair turned back the way they'd come to see an older man in a red Hawaiian shirt watching them.

"Kevin Levin?" he gasped, his eyes drifting over to the Osmosian. "You led _Kevin Levin_ to our base?"

"Grandpa," Gwen sighed in relief. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

He was staring at her in confusion now. "Gwen, I thought I told you not to leave the base. So would you care to explain what _he_ is doing here?"

" _He_ is here because _he_ has a car and she doesn't," Kevin said pointedly, crossing his arms.

"Grandpa, I need to ask you something," Gwen cut in.

"What is it?" Max asked, his voice and expression softening only a little.

"How did… how did Ben die?"

"Killed by the Emperor," Kevin told her when Max only stared.

Gwen frowned at him. "I need specifics," she said. "When and how?"

"Gwen…" Max's voice was both a warning and tinged with sadness. "You already know. Why are you asking?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. Nethersian changed the timeline by killing Ben this morning – this," she gestured around them vaguely, "was never supposed to happen."

Max looked confused. Perfectly understandable in Kevin's opinion.

"She has a magic bracelet that stopped her from disappearing as well," Kevin grabbed her arm and lifted it so the old man could see it. Although his voice hinted to his own disbelief. "Apparently there's another her running around somewhere."

"If I can figure out exactly what happened, I can go back in time and stop Nethersian from killing Ben and everything will go back to the way it was."

"I hope you understand how farfetched this all sounds," Max sighed.

"I know," Gwen relented. "But I'm telling the truth. I need your help."

"Alright," Max said at last. "Come on, we'll go somewhere a little more private."

They ended up in a small dormitory room, bare except for the essentials and a small framed photo of her family before everything went wrong. Gwen smiled as she looked at it, remembering the picnic and appreciating the opportunity to see her cousin, even if he was frowning in the photo.

"Take a seat," Grandpa Max instructed.

Gwen sat on the desk chair with Kevin leaning against the desk itself while her grandpa took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about what happened," Max began, his voice tight. "He was alone – walking home from school. He was still wearing the Omnitrix, but a ten year old against someone like Nethersian... he wouldn't have been able to defend himself properly; not against whatever was sent after him. We're not sure if it was the emperor himself who did it or someone else, but by the time we found him he was gone." There were tears in Max's eyes, his expression a sadder version of the one Sandra had sported earlier.

Gwen suddenly felt terrible for what she had unknowingly made her aunt remember. "W-What day?" she forced herself to ask.

"September 23rd 2006."

Gwen nodded, averting her eyes. "Thank you."

"Tell me about… the way things are supposed to be," Max said after a moment's silence.

"You and Ben are as close as ever," Gwen smiled fondly. "And we don't fight like we used to. He put the Omnitrix back on – although he has the Ultimatrix now, since the Omnitrix was destroyed. Saved the world a few times, which we wouldn't have been able to do without you, Kevin," she turned to the Osmosian in question. "You and Ben are best friends. Don't look at me like that; the two of you sorted out your differences ages ago."

"It sounds like a much better place than here," Max gave a small, sad laugh.

"So then let's do something about it," Kevin stood up properly.

Gwen likewise got to her feet. "There's just one more person we need to find and then we can go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I used the dates for the release of the original series as reference ^^;


	5. Reintroductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooley-dooley I'm back with another chapter. Enjoy, wonderful people!
> 
> ...I have noticed these chapters seem to be getting shorter each time... Hmmm...
> 
> Disclaimer: I disclaim

She should have guessed he'd be somewhere dark and creepy. It was always the style with those types of characters. It certainly didn't mean she had to like it, though. To be honest, she was mildly surprised he was still on Earth; from what she'd learned, the Plumbers were all but a page in history (which also explained why she'd failed to contact Grandpa Max). She wondered what was still keeping him here, and supposed she would find out soon enough.

The only light in the dark tunnels was the fistful of mana Gwen held out before her as she led the way deeper into the recesses of the abandoned subway system. Like most forms of transport and communication, it had been shut down shortly after Nethersian had taken over the planet. Eerie, dark and nightmarish, it was the perfect place for an Arkhirathi to hide.

"You sure that Syv-whatever guy is down here?" Kevin asked from her right.

"Positive," Gwen replied without taking her eyes from the road ahead.

"It doesn't look like there's anyone here," Kevin remarked, gazing around the blackness as if he could see clearly.

"Syvux is an Arkhirathi; they're harmed by light. An abandoned subway is the perfect place."

A sudden chill crept into the air around them and Gwen stopped, dimming the light in her hand a little. She didn't want to risk hurting him with it, but nor did she want to give it up. The Syvux in this timeline, after all, was not her friend.

All at once she was reminded of what Ben had said that night when the robot attacked: _'I hope you're not planning on sneaking up behind us and yelling 'boo'.'_ She _really_ hoped he didn't. As if she wasn't already freaked out enough.

"Hello?" Gwen called out to the darkness.

If she'd been hoping for a reply, she was disappointed. Silence reigned for what felt like the longest time.

"I don't think he heard y–" Kevin's sentence was cut off as he was sent flying forwards. There was a loud thud as he collided with a platform pillar and crumpled to the ground.

"Kevin!"

The Osmosian was indistinguishable in the pitch, the glowing pink light in her hand not bright enough to illuminate his figure. And then that light was gone.

Gwen's concentration wavered as an invisible force clamped around her neck, cutting off her air supply, and lifted her a foot above the ground. Choking, gasping for breath, she clawed at the air, desperate to break free but there was nothing to grab. No doubt the culprit was a safe distance away beyond her reach. If she only knew where he was she could use her mana to strike out but as it was there was nothing she could do.

Through the sound of blood thundering past her ears she could make out the sound of Kevin's voice – he was shouting something, his tone harsh, but she couldn't decipher the words.

"Sy…" she choked, trying to form coherent words. "Syv…"

Kevin was somewhere in front of her, still shouting. It was no good; even if he found where Syvux was hiding the alien could easily go intangible and remain undetected.

"Syv…" If there had been any light Gwen knew she would be seeing black dots edging her vision. She was starting to feel light-headed. "Syvux!"

Gwen gasped as the force holding her dissipated. With a small 'oof', she landed in a heap, her legs unable to support her weight. Attracted by the sounds of her heaving breaths Kevin appeared by her side. She felt him put a heavy hand (had he coated himself in stone?) on her shoulder but even with him so close she still couldn't make out his form.

"You okay?" he asked.

"F…fine," she wheezed, although it wasn't even convincing to her.

"How do you know my name?!" a familiar rasping voice hissed from the shadows.

"Syvux," Gwen allowed Kevin to help pull her to her feet. "I'll explain everything, just please hear us out."

"Answer the question."

Gwen raised her hand and allowed a small amount of mana to light up the platform, just enough for her to be able to see a short distance in front of her. Wherever Syvux was, he was far enough back that the light didn't affect him.

"I'm from an alternate timeline," she began. "In my timeline my cousin, Ben, wasn't killed by Nethersian and helped you clear your name. I met you through him."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you," came the suspicious reply.

"I didn't believe her either at first," Kevin supplied.

"Yesterday you gave me this bracelet," Gwen said, holding up her wrist so the jewellery could be seen. "You said it would protect me from 'magic' and–"

"And extradimensional forces," the Arkhirathi finished for her, stepping just close enough that his silhouette could be distinguished from the shadows. "What do you want from me?"

"I've – we've – come to ask for your help."

"…With?"

"I want to go back in time and stop Nethersian from changing the timelines. Things will go back to normal; you'll be free."

"I am free now."

"You call hiding in a subway 'free'?" Kevin asked sceptically. Gwen elbowed him in the stomach.

"The Plumbers are no more, there is no one left to pursue me."

"Nethersian was responsible for framing you," Gwen said. Even as she spoke she pulled the pendant from around her neck. "And if that isn't enough to convince you, you gave this pendant to Ben at the same time you gave me the bracelet. You said it belonged to someone important to you."

Syvux released a sound similar to a hiss, but what emotion it carried was lost on Gwen. It could have been anger, shock, maybe both.

Silence fell heavily upon them and Gwen was starting to feel vulnerable. And then, after what felt like an eternity, "Very well. I will help you."

"Close your eyes," Gwen instructed, smiling despite herself.

"…What?"

"I'm going to summon my magic book and it might be bright."

Silence.

"You ready?"

"Proceed."

With a brief flash of pink the large book appeared floating in the air before Gwen and she instantly started sifting through the pages.

"What are you looking for?" Kevin asked, peering over her shoulder.

"First of all I'm going to try and find something that will protect Syvux from the light. I assume you don't have an ID mask with you?"

"Nope. And second?"

"We're going to need a spell for time travel, obviously."

"Obviously."

"Syvux, I think I found something," Gwen told the Arkhirathi. "Come here and we'll try it."

Syvux hesitantly shuffled over, making sure to stay far enough away from the light in Gwen's hand to prevent any harm.

Gwen dissipated the light and stretched her hand out towards where the alien had been standing.

" _Serua contra luminem._ "

A transparent flow of mana cascaded over Syvux's form, but he didn't appear to be in any pain. In a matter of seconds it was over and they were cast once more into darkness.

"Did it work?" Kevin was the first to break the silence.

"Only one way to find out," Gwen shrugged, summoning a ball of mana into her hand and lighting up a good fraction of the platform.

Syvux stood before them in all his creepy glory, watching them with blank eyes. But he did not shy away from the light – didn't so much as wince. Gwen smiled in satisfaction.

"How do you feel?"

"…Completely fine," Syvux sounded as surprised as he looked.

"Okay then, time travel," Kevin crossed his arms.

"What's your hurry?" Gwen raised a brow, flipping over a few chapters.

"I want my spaceship."

Gwen shook her head fondly, locating the right page. She opened her mouth to begin the incantation but paused, gazing purposefully around the platform.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm waiting."

"For?"

"Me."

They all turned to see the man in a lab coat step towards them. Kevin was instantly on the alert, morphing his still stone-covered hand into a mallet. He wouldn't be taken by surprise again.

"Relax, Kevin," Gwen lowered his arm. "Hello, Paradox."

"Greetings, Gwendolyn," Paradox smiled. "I suppose you know why I'm here."

"To warn me against time travelling like you did last time?"

"On the contrary, I'm here for moral support and to offer you a small piece of advice."

"Um, who is this guy?" Kevin frowned.

"My apologies, Kevin Levin. We haven't met yet, have we?"

"Huh?"

"He's a time traveller," Gwen clarified.

"Then why do we even need a spell?"

"Because the fabric of time where you want to go is rather thin and my presence would undoubtedly make things worse. That being said, I suggest you choose a moment in time that's at least a few hours beforehand."

"Grandpa Max said it happened when Ben was on his way home…" Gwen pondered. "Okay."

"One more thing," Paradox continued. "Don't take off that bracelet, Gwen; not until things are back to normal. Right then. Cheerio!"

With a brief flash of light the man was gone.

"That was weird," Kevin commented.

"Actually, it was reassuring," Gwen countered. "Are we ready to go?"

Syvux and Kevin both nodded.

" _Quis quandum era maflictus, iem feachus mas redentegero, quis venit pro mas mesquam essei!_ "


	6. Fear

The sound of scuttling footsteps behind him wrenched Ben from his trail of thought. It was nothing unusual – he wasn't the only one to walk down that street, after all – but something felt a little off… why scuttling? Ben glanced back over his shoulder briefly, not bothering to slow his pace.

Nothing; the street was empty apart from him.

Maybe he was hearing things. With a small shrug he turned back around and focused on getting home. He hoped there were still some left-over cupcakes that his mom had baked on the weekend. Or ice cream. Or both.

Something was off… Ben had a nagging feeling in his gut that there was something seriously wrong here. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were the usual sounds of the afternoon; cars driving on the main road a few streets over, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees, birds– That's what was wrong. The birds had stopped singing.

Ben spun around, scanning every shadow in the street before him. His every instinct was telling him he was being followed. Perhaps he wasn't crazy after all. Was it an alien? Another one of Vilgax's robot lackeys after the Omnitrix? Surely not, he'd defeated Vilgax and locked both him and Kevin in the Null Void. He hadn't even seen any aliens at all since school had started up again.

It couldn't be Cash and J.T. could it? Ben hurriedly thought back to every interaction he'd had with the two bullies over the past few weeks he'd been back at school, trying to find anything – words or actions – that would make him a target again.

Now sufficiently paranoid, Ben took a few, slow steps backwards before spinning back around and continuing his journey, albeit at a faster pace. In his hyper-aware state he took in everything, every sound and movement; a bird flying away, a door shutting somewhere, a dog barking nearby…

Ben's eyes widened and he ducked down, protecting his head with his arms. Looking up he just managed to catch a glimpse of a laser bullet shooting straight over his head. If he hadn't heard the blast he would probably be dead.

Never one to back down from a fight, Ben jumped upright and faced his assailant, a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue. His words died in his throat when he spotted the culprit. He was standing a few houses down, a long tattered cloak covering every inch of his tall, skeletal body. The hood shrouded his face in darkness, making it impossible to discern any distinguishing features. Whoever this was, it was safe to assume they weren't human.

The alien raised its gun-like weapon and fired a second time.

Ben threw himself sideways, landing in a heap on the lawn of one of the houses. This was _not_ good.

He'd never seen the guy before, so revenge was unlikely. So, then, the Omnitrix? Fine then. He'd _give_ them the Omnitrix.

Ben quickly activated the watch, cycling through the aliens until he made a decision. Slamming down the dial, a green light enveloped him.

"You're in trouble, now," Heatblast smirked, summoning a ball of fire in his hands. There was no way he was going down without a fight.

The alien paused, lowering its weapon, and took several steps forward. Heatblast frowned, releasing the fireball. The alien didn't so much as flinch. When the projectile was only a mere metre away he suddenly vanished.

Heatblast's eyes widened as he quickly tried to relocate the guy. How had he done that? Was he able to go intangible or something?

"I believe the one in trouble is you," the alien's voice was quiet, yet deep, and sent dread spiralling through Heatblast's body.

Heatblast gasped, spinning around to the source of the voice. But he wasn't quick enough. A fist connected with the side of his head and sent him flying, skidding across the road before finally coming to a stop.

Okay, so this wasn't good.

"What do you want?" he asked, pushing himself back to his feet. "The Omnitrix?"

"Simply your demise."

Oh. Was that all?

"If I got a dollar for every time someone said that to me, I'd be able to buy the new Sumo Slammers game."

The alien chuckled, something Heatblast had not been expecting. It was a chilling, grinding noise that held no humour. "Is that so? Well, perhaps those feeble minded fools who have tried and failed were not up to the scratch to defeat a mere _child_ , but I assure you such is not the case with me."

Man, this guy was arrogant. Maybe it was time to knock him down a few notches. Nothing like humiliation to deflate one's ego.

Heatblast thrust both hands out towards the weirdo and sent out a long, gruelling jet of flame. But like before the alien simply teleported away.

This could be a problem. How was he supposed to attack the guy if he kept disappearing?

Heatblast pivoted, expecting the alien to try the same trick again but nothing appeared before him.

"Looking for me?" a sinister voice asked.

A blaster was pushed into his back and fired. Heatblast cried out as he tumbled forwards several feet. Of course. The alien had anticipated his expectation.

Maybe he needed a change in tactic. Pushing himself back to his feet, this time he aimed for the road upon which the alien was standing, quickly turning it molten. His assailant sunk a few inches beneath the sticky tar.

"Let's see you get away this time!"

The alien gave a short huff of laughter. "With pleasure." And then he teleported again.

Of course.

What else could he do? He needed to think this through carefully. For once he actually wished Gwen and Grandpa Max were there, too. They were better at coming up with strategic plans than he was.

What did he know? The alien could teleport. That was about it. An idea came to him and he smiled.

Heatblast launched two consecutive fireballs at his enemy, but this time wasn't disappointed when he vanished. Waiting until just the last moment, he blasted a ring of intense flames around himself. There was a cry of pain as the alien reappeared amidst the inferno, not having expected the sudden attack. He promptly vanished again.

"Heh, not so invincible after all, huh?"

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to beat this guy after all. But that was a trick that would only work once. At least it meant if the alien wanted to get close to him, he would have to do it without teleporting.

He was unprepared for the sudden weight that crashed down on top of him, sending him crashing to the ground.

"A cheap trick," the alien smirked, pressing the barrel of his blaster against the back of Heatblast's head. "But I tire of this."

Thinking fast, Heatblast raised his core body temperature, making flames erupt from the gaps between the rock plating. The barrel of the gun melted instantly. Making the most of the confusion, he lifted a section of rock out of the ground, using it as a platform to get above his assailant.

And then, of course, the Omnitrix timed out.

He barely had the time to groan before he was human once more and falling out of the sky. The alien teleported before the rock had the chance to crush him.

"Oh man!" Ben cried. What was he supposed to do now? As a human he didn't stand a chance!

Ben took a deep breath and bolted before the alien reappeared. There were no sounds of footsteps chasing after him, but he didn't dare turn around to check. It was like being at a great height and not looking down. If you did, you would regret it.

His feet skidded on the pavement as he hastily turned a corner before picking up the pace again, pushing his legs to move as fast as physically possible.

Wait. This was his street. He was practically leading the enemy to home base! He might as well say 'hey, here are my family. Why don't you use them against me? Or you could always come back later while I'm sleeping since you know where I live now.' No. No _way_.

Another side street appeared on his left and he took it, noting that he was now heading back into the direction of the main part of town. Maybe if there were lots of people around the alien would be more hesitant to attack.

Yeah, not likely.

It was times like these he really wished he had a cell phone.

Ben cried out in shock more so than pain as something struck him in the back, sending him tumbling heavily to the ground. He barely had the chance to catch his breath before a foot collided with his side, rolling him over so he was looking up at the cloaked alien. Even at this distance the shadows concealed his face.

But he didn't need to see the alien's face to know it was smiling.

With a foot planted on Ben's chest to prevent him from getting up, the alien reached down and placed one skeletal hand under his chin and the other atop his head.

Oh. Great.

"I had wanted this to be less... grotesque, but you have left me no choice. Farewell," it said.

Ben clamped his eyes shut, bracing himself.

But there was no loud snap, no pain. Ben gathered his courage and slowly opened an eye, finding that the world had somehow taken on a deep pink hue. That was different. The alien that had been standing over him had moved, now struggling against what appeared to be a guy covered in concrete.

Well, he'd seen weirder.

Both eyes opened fully as the pink drained away; a shield, then. Ben hastily got to his feet, not wanting to be caught again. He was nearly knocked back over when a body collided with him, the owner's arms wrapping tightly around him.

So much for that.

"Are you okay?" a high pitched, feminine voice asked, her tone laced with concern and relief.

"I'm fine," Ben managed, pushing her off him.

Judging from her appearance, she was likely in her mid to late teens. She kind of reminded him of Gwen, only older, and her hair was longer and darker. Her bright green eyes were looking him over, as if expecting to find a gaping hole through him.

She didn't look like she was going to attack him (previous action not counted) so Ben returned his attention to the fight playing out a short distance away.

The cloaked alien had gained the upper hand, having recovered from their sudden appearance, and swatted concrete guy into a light pole as though he were a bug.

"Do not interfere," the alien hissed, looking for all the world like it was going to come back and finish what it started.

Just great.

It didn't get the chance, however, as all of a sudden he was sent sprawling as if he'd been struck from behind… and apparently he had been. Some kind of ghost-like alien appeared out of nowhere, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Who are you people?" Ben gaped. The girl must be a sorceress like Charmcaster and Gwen if that weird pink shield she'd used was anything to go by.

"We'll talk later," she replied, not pausing to glance at him. She started launching pink orbs at the alien. They made contact with their target, but he didn't seem to notice.

Concrete guy had seemingly recovered from his beating and was back on his feet, making to charge at his opponent with bladed hands. The alien waited until the last moment before easily jumping out of harm's way, looking back at the other guy in contempt.

Who were these people? What the heck was going on? Why did the Halloween-reject want him dead? So many questions and he didn't have the answers to any of them. He couldn't even help them take the guy down. Without the Omnitrix he was next to useless.

"This isn't over," the cloaked alien spat, apparently having had enough. "You have only delayed the inevitable." Then, to Ben's shock, he disappeared.

Everyone remained silent for a moment, watching the space where the weirdo had been. And then Ben found himself to be the centre of attention. His three rescuers turned to him simultaneously; concrete guy and the ghost moving closer.

But then the concrete disappeared and horror struck him.

It couldn't be. It wasn't possible! He'd seen the guy get locked in the Null Void! Not to mention how much older and stronger and non-mutated he was.

Ben took an involuntary step backwards.

"…K-Kevin?"

"Surprised to see me?" Kevin smirked, confirming his identity.

Ben gaped for only a second before his mind caught up with him. He ran. Freaky alien weirdos he could deal with. Kevin? Not so much. He had trouble defeating the sociopath when he was in alien form! There was _no way_ he stood a chance against him as a human. Especially when it seemed like he had friends.

Unfortunately he didn't get very far. Apparently the pink whatever-it-was was more than just a shield and a projectile. It wrapped around his torso, locking his arms to his sides, and dragged him back over to the three newcomers.

"Of course he's surprised to see you," the girl rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Ben, crouching down so they were at eye-level. "Relax, Ben, we're not here to hurt you." She released him to prove her point.

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it," Ben snapped, brushing himself off. He eyed Kevin warily. The guy certainly looked hostile. But for now at least he didn't seem to want to kill him.

But why did he look so much older? Unless… It certainly wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten involved with time travel. So if this was an older Kevin, then…

"Are you… Gwen?" he asked, turning to the girl.

She seemed surprised, perhaps because he'd figured it out on his own. Geez, he wasn't stupid… he just didn't always think.

"He catches on quick," Kevin said, almost proudly. Almost.

Ben glared at him.

But that still left the ghost-guy. While he reminded Ben of Ghostfreak, they weren't the same.

"Who are you?" Ben raised a brow.

"…My name is Syvux," he replied awkwardly, as if he was still trying to figure out why he was even there in the first place. Ben would've liked to know the exact same thing.

"Hi," he said, before shifting his gaze back to Gwen. "So do you want to tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?"

"Let him guess," Kevin told her.

Gwen ignored him. "It's kind of a long story," she said instead. "Let's go somewhere more private to talk."

 

* * *

 

It was hard to take it all in, like the things she'd told him had happened to someone else. And, in a way, he supposed they had. Because, while older-Ben was him, he wasn't yet older-Ben.

It was even harder to accept that _Kevin Levin_ , the guy who had tried to kill him so often over the past summer, had come back from the future to try and keep him alive. Gwen, he could understand. Syvux, he had no idea, but apparently they were friends even if neither of them knew it. But Kevin? No; definitely not.

She had to be paying him.

Gwen must have picked up on his unease (not that it was hard) because she had deliberately seated herself beside Ben on the bed, while Kevin had taken his desk chair, and Syvux had been content to stand.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Ben said, not liking the way they were all looking at him. "Some alien emperor has come back in time to kill me because of something I haven't even done yet?"

"Pretty much," Gwen nodded.

"How much is she paying you?" he asked Kevin.

The man in question smiled in amusement. "I'm _hurt_ that you would suggest such a thing," he said insincerely, placing a hand over his heart.

Ben stared at him sceptically.

"Apparently in her timeline," he pointed to Gwen, "we're friends."

That was even harder to believe. "U-huh, sure."

"No, really," Gwen confirmed. "We needed Kevin's help and he ended up joining our team."

"But that's in _your_ timeline, right?" Ben pointed out. " _This_ Kevin is from a different one. So what's in it for you?"

"She said she'd give me a spaceship," Kevin shrugged noncommittally.

"You have a spaceship?" he asked her, shocked.

"It's…. complicated," Gwen relented, looking at the ceiling as if it were immensely interesting.

"As long as I get one, I don't care," Kevin admitted, enticing a sharp look from Gwen.

"Perhaps it would be wise to discuss the matter at hand," Syvux piped up.

"He's right," Gwen said. "Nethersian isn't going to give up that easily. He'll be back."

"So what do we do?" Ben asked.

"We baby-sit you," Kevin smirked.

"I don't need baby-sitting."

"Could've fooled me."

"Not like that's hard."

"Will you two cut it out?!" Gwen snapped.

Ben and Kevin glared at each other but remained silent.

"We need to come up with a plan."


	7. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the end now! :O After this one there's only 2 chapters to go. Really is a lot shorter than Revenge :P
> 
> Disclaimer: IDOB10

In the end, they didn't know enough about what Nethersian was planning to come up with a strategy that was more involved than 'never go anywhere alone'. In Ben's opinion, Kevin's description of 'babysitting' had been rather accurate. Not that he'd ever tell the guy that. But other than the fact that he was being tailed by an invisible ghost alien as he went about his regular school day, not much had changed.

Ben wasn't really sure what to make of Syvux. He was quiet and almost irritatingly well behaved. If it had been him, Ben would have taken full advantage of the invisibility to enjoy himself, maybe freak out a few people (*cough*Cash and J.T.*cough*). But Syvux just stood behind and slightly to the right of him (as far as he could tell) the whole time. Ben was starting to have trouble believing that future-him had been friends with the guy (he was also starting to think that Syvux shared his sentiments).

Days came and went without seeing hide or hair of the alien who sought his 'demise' until Ben started to wonder if it was over after all and that Nethersian had just been trying to make them edgy. Future-Gwen certainly was; edgy, that is. The way she watched him carried such a fierce determination and protection that it was starting to unnerve him. Was she like that all the time or was this a special circumstance?

Not to mention Kevin. Ben couldn't figure out whose side he was on in the best of times. Probably theirs if the spaceship bribe was true. But after so long of having (a younger) him trying to kill him, Ben thought it was completely understandable that the weirdo made him uncomfortable. At least he wasn't as insane as he used to be… is? Verb tenses became so difficult when time travel was involved.

So far his parents hadn't suspected anything amiss. Ben ended up spending most of his time with at least one of the future-people, even if it was just Syvux hiding invisibly with him at home. Somehow his folks had bought the explanation that he was barely home because he had extra-curricular activities, but he wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

"Surprise, twerp, you get to spend the afternoon with me."

A familiarly obnoxious voice broke Ben from his musings and he looked up to find Kevin waiting for him at the bottom of the steps leading into the school.

"Great," he replied with false enthusiasm.

"Oi, Syv," Kevin turned his attention to an empty space just to the right of Ben's head. "Gwen wants your help researching… whatever it is she's been researching these last few days."

"Very well," a voice murmured from Ben's left and the ten-year-old couldn't help but snicker at Kevin's mistake. Kevin, for his part, glared at him.

Kevin had somehow managed to 'acquire' a car – and it was testimony to how well they knew him that none of them had wanted to know how – that he led Ben to. The ten-year-old climbed into the passenger seat in a show of defiance. Personally he would have much preferred to sit in the back as far away from the Osmosian (apparently not a mutant after all) as physically possible, but he didn't want to give Kevin the satisfaction of knowing that he made him nervous.

"So where are we going?" Ben asked after Kevin had pulled out onto the road.

"Auto show."

"Why?"

"Gwen's worried about you so she's making me take you somewhere as a distraction."

"And you thought an auto show would be a good idea?"

Kevin glanced at him, smirking. "It's not like I'm doing any of your dorky ideas of fun."

"Because a bunch of cars sitting around is _so_ exciting." Honestly he didn't really mind, but it was the principle of the thing. Besides, he had to go with _Kevin_. "What's she worried about, anyway? I'm fine."

"That's probably why."

Ben raised an eyebrow, not following.

"You're taking all this rather well; a little too well, actually. Normal people would be at least a little freaked out if there was someone trying to kill them."

His expression became incredulous. "Um, in case you forgot, I'm kinda used to it. I mean, you alone tried to kill me however many times over the summer and this," he raised the watch, "makes me a target all the time. I've faced worse and come out unscathed, so why should one creep who couldn't even defeat _you_ worry me?"

"Don't get cocky, Tennyson," Kevin told him. "Overconfidence could be what makes you lose this time." He turned off onto another street. "And in case _you_ forgot, this guy's already killed you before in my timeline, so he could do it again now."

"Wait, then whose timeline's Ben am I? Even if we stop this Nether-whatever guy it's not going to fix both hers and yours."

Kevin pulled the car into a parking spot, stopped the engine and turned to stare at him. "You know, I have no idea."

"Time travel is confusing," Ben grimaced.

"Tell me about it."

 

* * *

 

The auto show was everything Ben had expected it to be; a bunch of cars sitting around while people gawked at them and haggled prices. Kevin's expression had remained neutral from the moment they'd entered the showground but Ben still got the impression of a kid wallowing in a candy store.

But while it might have been enjoyable for Kevin, Ben was bored out of his mind. It was like being dragged along to one of Gwen's stupid magic conventions; there were a million things he'd rather be doing. But he was stuck with the creep until it was time for him to head home, where he'd be handed over to Syvux who would play invisible-stalker until someone else came to take over.

Where had his privacy gone? He liked attention, sure, but this was _way_ overboard. He was certain they were all overreacting; it had been ages and there'd been no sign of the circus-reject. Besides, he was more than capable of taking care of himself, so long as the watch decided not to time-out. But the future-people refused to listen and so he was forced to obey. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. And it certainly didn't mean he had to make it easy for them. Well, for Kevin at least.

He looked up at the teen in question, who was quite absorbed in arguing prices for some kind of technological doodad that Ben couldn't identify. He was so focused, Ben doubted he'd even notice if he slipped away for a while. That being said, Ben quietly turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

"There has to be something worth doing around here," he grumbled to himself, gazing at the displays as he went.

"Are you lost, young man?"

Ben turned to the man who had addressed him. He appeared middle-aged and was dressed in an oil-stained pair of overalls.

"No," Ben replied against his better judgment.

"I see. Well, if you've got the time, could you give me a hand with these crates?" he gestured several stacked wooden boxes. "I'll take you for a spin in this beast as payment."

Ben's face lit up like Christmas had come early when his eyes landed on the shiny black car that looked like it could go _way_ faster than any of the supercars he saw on TV.

 

* * *

 

Kevin was fuming. He'd turned his back on the brat for a few minutes and he'd run off who knows where. Now he was forced to march around the grounds looking for him. And to make matters worse, he hadn't been able to haggle the price of the level three thrusters down low enough. It wasn't easy to find alien tech at Earth auto shows.

"When I find that little twerp I'm gonna kill him myself," Kevin grumbled, scanning the crowd of people for a short brunette. Of course it was an empty threat. If he killed Ben he wouldn't get his spaceship.

He searched for nearly an hour before he was forced to admit that he'd completely lost the kid.

"Ugh, Gwen's gonna kill me," he moaned, slipping his Plumber's badge out of his pocket. "Yo, Gwen, you there?"

" _What is it?_ " Gwen's voice came through almost instantly, sounding rather worried. " _What's wrong?_ "

"Uh, I may have lost him."

" _What do you mean you 'may have lost him'?!_ "

"I turned around for a minute and when I turned back he was gone."

" _Kevin! You're supposed to be_ watching him."

"Look, could ya just tell me where he is so I can pound him?" Kevin huffed, rolling his eyes.

A heavy sigh crackled through. " _Hang on, we'll be there soon._ "

"Wonderful," Kevin drawled, slipping the badge back into his jeans.

 

* * *

 

As he'd expected, Gwen was frantic with worry when they met up. He was sure Syvux was with her, but remained invisible, so Kevin couldn't accurately gouge the alien's reaction.

"I can't believe you," the red-head glared. "How could you lose him so quickly?!"

"Hey, if we did things my way, we'd tie him up and use him as bait for Nethersian and this would be over by now," Kevin retorted.

"And that's why we don't do things your way," she said flatly.

"Perhaps it would be wise to find Ben before Nethersian does," Syvux remarked from beside them, confirming Kevin's suspicions.

"Right," Gwen's eyes glowed a bright pink. "This way!" without waiting to check if they were following she bolted off through the crowds.

The caught up rather quickly; she'd stopped right in the middle of the pathway, staring wide-eyed at a cloaked figure not far ahead.

"Looking for something?" the figure asked, a prominent sneer in his voice.

Gwen didn't bother with responding, instead gathering mana around her hands and launching them ineffectively at the alien. "What have you done with Ben?!"

"Nothing, for the moment."

Kevin pressed a hand to a steel awning pole, coating his body in a protective layer. People had stopped to stare at the sudden supernatural fight that had broken out in the middle of the show grounds, unsure how to react.

Nethersian suddenly vanished, only to reappear over by an expensive Ferrari. A hiss from where he'd been preceded Syvux's return to visibility.

Kevin charged towards the emperor, bladed hands at the ready. Nethersian teleported again before the hit could connect, not that he'd expected anything different. The guy was known for his slipperiness.

"Tut, tut," Nethersian smirked. "Is that any way to treat your ruler?"

"You're no ruler of mine," Gwen ground out, creating a mana cube around the guy, only for him to disappear again before it could close completely.

"We shall see," a sinister voice whispered in her ear.

Gwen gasped, making to spin around but a fist connected with her back and sent her flying forwards. She barely managed to form a spherical shield around herself before she crashed into a scrap stand.

Kevin watched her impact, checking that she got back up before racing towards the enemy. At the last second he changed directive, reaching out and grabbing onto the guy just as he teleported. The world spun, his vision dizzy, so that he was unprepared for the sudden force to slam him into the ground. With a grunt, he began pushing himself upwards, only for a heavy foot to shove him back down.

"Worms should learn their place," the alien said.

Kevin hooked his arm around the one leg still planted on the ground, knocking it out from beneath his assailant. Nethersian stumbled, crashing heavily on his back with a hiss. Kevin quickly rolled to his feet.

"I think you're right," he told the guy, raising his own foot in much the same way Nethersian had done. But before boot could connect with body the alien had gone again. "I hate when he does that," he growled.

A blast from behind him had him swinging around to see Syvux firing some kind of energy shot, but none of the attacks connected. This was getting ridiculous. There had to be a better way of fighting him. If only he would stop teleporting everywhere!

 _At least while he's focused on us he can't go after Ben_ , Kevin thought, once more charging into the fray.


	8. Stolen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out I'm a huge doof and called chapters 8 and 9 chapter 8. So on my document it goes ch.8, ch.8, ch.9. There's actually 10 chapters lol ^^;
> 
> Thanks so much for all the support! Next chapter will include a little comic relief cause things are getting full-on
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own

The ride in the black sports car had totally been worth the effort of shifting crates. Ben was still grinning when he jumped out of the passenger's seat, turning to face the man getting out of the other side.

"Had a good time, I take it?" the man laughed, matching Ben's expression.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" Ben beamed.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your help, son."

Saying their final goodbyes Ben continued his self-navigation of the showgrounds, this time in a good mood. He bet Kevin would be super jealous when he found out. And he _would_ find out. Because Ben had every intention of bragging.

The sounds of a fight drew him from his thoughts and he looked across the grounds to where the commotion appeared to be coming from. He couldn't see anything from where he was, but there were a large group of people starting to congregate towards it.

Frowning, Ben made to head over but froze when a voice hissed, "Going somewhere?"

Ben spun around so fast he almost did a full revolution. There was no doubt that the figure before him was the alien who had attacked him – Nethersian, or whatever. Well, so much for the guy not coming back.

"Ugh, what do you want?" he groaned.

"Are we really going to go over this every single time?"

"Only until you finally realise you're wasting your time," Ben smirked, reaching for the Omnitrix.

"We shall see."

As soon as the alien disappeared, Ben slammed down on the watch. The last thing he wanted to do was be completely defenceless in the face of a madman.

"Oh no, not Ripjaws," he groaned, looking down at himself. There wasn't a body of water around in any direction for miles! "Better do this quick, then."

And then he was sent sprawling by a blow to the back.

 _Right, should probably focus on the bad guy_ , he thought, pushing himself back to his feet.

"A Piscciss Volann. Interesting choice," Nethersian said, stepping casually towards him.

"I didn't choose!" Ripjaws snapped back. "I wanted Four Arms. This watch just hates me!"

"Well, I suppose that makes two of us." The alien lunged, Ripjaws only just managing to dodge out of the way before a clawed hand could slice right through his skull.

Seizing the moment, he spun around so he was facing his assailant's back and landed a swift kick. Nethersian flew forwards from the unexpected attack, landing with a clatter in a pile of crates now strewn about the ground.

The clatter garnered the attention of the few individuals who hadn't congregated to whatever was going on further up the showgrounds, and they started crowding around, perhaps thinking it was some kind of show rather than a serious situation that could get them all killed if they weren't careful.

Nethersian pushed himself back to his feet without a word, where he proceeded to brush himself off. Ripjaws wasn't sure how to feel when the alien didn't even bother turning around to face him.

"I think playtime is over, don't you?" Nethersian said calmly, still with his back to the enemy.

Before Ripjaws could come up with a response, the alien had vanished again. Something grabbed the side of his head and slammed it down into the ground. Ripjaws almost wished he'd passed out from the impact, the way his vision swam and his ears were ringing. If he was still human he had no doubt his skull would have cracked in half. The same hand that had pounded him into the pavement lifted him up again, white eyes hazily staring at shadow. He knew if he didn't do something fast he wasn't going to last much longer. In a last-ditch effort, Ripjaws strained against the alien's grip and sunk his teeth into the guy's shoulder.

Nethersian hissed in pain, throwing the eleven year old away from him where he collapsed to the ground. Ripjaws allowed himself a small smile for the success as his opponent clutched at the huge tear in his cloak and likely his body. But he still needed to get up and fight if he wanted to win. He made it to a kneel before his body decided that was far enough. His sight clouded and doubled and he fought down the urge to be sick. The taste of alien blood in his mouth didn't do much to help, either. And it was starting to get hard to breathe.

"I would like nothing more than to obliterate you until you are nothing more than dust," Nethersian sneered, striding towards where Ripjaws still sat. "Unfortunately I do not currently have the means for such a thing, but I can certainly make your demise as slow and painful as possible."

Well, wasn't that just wonderful?

A sudden surge of adrenalin gave Ripjaws the energy needed to get back on his feet but he swayed dangerously as his head pounded from the change in altitude.

"Just… you try it," he wheezed. Water. There had to be water around here somewhere!

"Oh, poor little worm," Nethersian mocked. "Just look at you; you can barely stand! What hope do you have of coming out of this alive?"

Ignoring his body's protests, Ripjaws recklessly lunged forwards, swinging wildly in hopes of striking the enemy. He should have expected Nethersian to teleport again. And he should have expected the blow to the back of his head that knocked him back to the ground, barely hanging on to consciousness as a foot pressed against his back.

"This device you use is quite interesting," the alien said conversationally. "Originally I had not thought it worth my attention, but perhaps I was wrong. It could come in handy."

Just what he needed; another nutcase after the Omnitrix.

Ripjaws gasped for breath that wouldn't come as the alien pushed him onto his back and pressed a thin, skeletal digit to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. With a flash he was back to being Ben, but at that point he didn't really care, too focused on getting in as much air as possible.

"Intriguing," Nethersian continued, lifting Ben's limp wrist and examining the watch. "From the looks of things it won't come off without a fight… but there are other ways to remove it." From within the folds of his cloak he pulled a strange device that wasn't dissimilar from the one Kevin and Vilgax had used to painfully get the watch off months ago. This… wasn't good.

"It would be more enjoyable to simply slice off your wrist, but that would be messy and time consuming."

"Oh, gee, thanks."

"You're welcome," Nethersian sneered, holding the device over the watch and activating it.

The pain was both immediate and unbearable. Ben was vaguely aware of someone screaming and even less so that it was his own voice he was hearing. It was a kindness when he succumbed to his injuries and the newest assault to his body and passed out.

 

* * *

 

The first thing he was aware of was the muffled voices. He was pretty sure someone was shouting, but it was like they were all underwater, only the barest wisps reaching him, and even they were too mutated to be understood.

Feeling was next, though he almost wished it wasn't. His body was thrumming like one giant bruise and his head was pounding angrily from its earlier abuse. He could vaguely tell his head was being cradled by someone. And then sight returned.

His suspicions were confirmed when he recognised future-Gwen looking down at him with concern evident on her face. Her mouth was moving and he could hear fuzzy murmurs, but he had no idea what she was saying. He let his gaze drift over to the right. Pink. There was pink everywhere. Gwen had put a shield around them, then.

Beyond the shield he could just make out the form of Kevin fighting against… was there _two_ Nethersians or was his earlier beating affecting him to a degree that he was still seeing double?

"…Ben?"

Sound came rushing back with a painful pop in his hears. He winced.

"Ben, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"'m fine," Ben groaned. A total lie and they both knew it.

"I'm so sorry, Ben. We should have been here. We didn't know there were two of them!"

Oh, so he wasn't seeing double, then.

"Will you be okay if I leave you under the shield? Kevin and Syvux look like they could use some help."

She was right, judging from the way Kevin had just been thrown into a parked car and Syvux was nowhere to be seen. But he could also tell the hopelessness from her voice. She didn't think they could win. And she was probably right.

Ben knew he wasn't a good fighter when compared to people like Tetrax, but if he couldn't defeat the guy with the Omnitrix, what could they do when they were severely limited to what powers they had? And two of them were still mostly human. He would be dead already if his alien forms didn't have such a high durability. But she wasn't giving up. And neither was he.

"Let me help," he managed.

"No," she didn't sugar coat it. "You don't have the Omnitrix and I won't risk losing you."

He didn't…? Ben's eyes darted to his left wrist. His _bare_ left wrist. Nethersian really had taken it, then, hadn't he? They really didn't stand a chance. "It doesn't matter! He's after me, right? So he's not going to stop until he gets what he wants. It's my fault he's here, even if I haven't done whatever it was I'm going to do, and I won't just sit here and watch while he kills you guys."

Gwen stared at him for a long moment, the expression on her face unreadable. "Stay here," she said firmly but sadly, gently placing him on the ground and covering him in his own, smaller shield before letting the larger one drop.

"Gwen!" he called out to her, pounding on the pink walls but she didn't turn back.

"Let's see how this works," Nethersian's voice, muffled by the barrier separating Ben from the rest of the world, caught his attention. The Omnitrix was clamped firmly around his wrist and he was experimentally pressing buttons and twisting the dial. "Ah, I see," he smirked as the dial popped up, just as it had for the eleven year old so many times before. He pressed down on it and in a flash of green, transformed.

"Hmm, is this Tetramand form the one you were trying to attain, Tennyson?" the alien – now Four Arms – asked. "'Four Arms' I believed you called it. How original."

But Ben could only stare. Nethersian had the Omnitrix. _The bad guy had the watch!_ What were they going to do? They had a hard enough time trying to beat the guy before, but now? Not to mention there was _another_ Nethersian just a few feet away, pounding Kevin into the concrete. How had the situation deteriorated into something so hopeless so quickly?

Gwen was shooting those mana things at Tetra-thersian, but they may as well have been cotton balls for all the good they were doing. Syvux was darting in and out of visibility, trying to land a blow where he could but each time they sensed him coming and teleported out of the way. And Kevin, who had taken advantage of his assailant's disappearance and gotten back to his feet, had cracks in his concrete armour and was wavering. As they were, they didn't stand a chance. And Ben had never felt so helpless.

He was sick of needing to be protected, sick of being just a stupid little kid who was reckless and didn't think things through. He was sick of being a burden and a liability. So when Gwen was knocked aside like a rag doll and the shield around him dropped he didn't waste the opportunity. He knew what he was planning was stupid and the very definition of the things he didn't want to be, but like hell he was going to let the three of them die on his account.

"Hey, ugly!" he called, successfully gaining Terta-thersian's attention. "It's me you're after, right? So why don't you stop wasting time and come get me? Or is it that you're _scared_ you'll be beaten and humiliated by an eleven year old human?"

Tetra-thersian ground his teeth at the jibe before a smirk settled over his features. "As you wish." And then he was gone.

Ignoring Gwen's protests from where she was weakly trying to push herself back upright, Ben spun on his heel and bolted. He was vaguely aware of the enemy reappearing where he had been and vanishing again, but he didn't let his mind linger on it. He had to lure the guy away from the other three. They would still have the other Nethersian to deal with (and why there were two he still didn't know), but it would even out the odds a bit. Especially since bad guy #2 didn't have an Omnitrix at his disposal.

"Man, I wish grandpa was here," he groaned, skidding to a stop just long enough to change direction and head down another laneway in the showgrounds. He could've really used some alien weaponry right about then.

 

* * *

 

"Ben!" Gwen cried out after her retreating cousin, the Nethersian with the Omnitrix hot on his tail. But if Ben heard he chose to ignore her, continuing on like a bat out of hell.

"Idiot," Kevin muttered, replenishing his armour with some metal from a stand. "We go to all this effort to keep him alive and he pretty much goes and paints a target on himself."

Syvux suddenly appeared at Gwen's side and helped pull her back to her feet.

"Thanks," she breathed.

The Nethersian left behind surveyed them all with an air of boredom before disappearing into thin air. Only to reappear behind Kevin and slam him down into the stand he had been borrowing from.

"I really hope whatever it was you've been researching was worthwhile," he groaned, using his arms to push himself back up. A foot between the shoulder blades reacquainted him with the ground.

"Of course!" Gwen beamed. "Kevin, you're a genius!"

"I already knew that," came the strained reply.

"Syvux, go help him. This might take a little time."

Syvux nodded and returned to invisibility. Gwen didn't wait around to see if he obeyed, however, summoning her magic book and flipping to the page she'd bookmarked. She'd been trying to find a way to counteract time travel – maybe a way to send Nethersian back to his own time. But while that had been unsuccessful, she'd managed to come across something else that may be of more use. She was going to need a few things, though.

Darting her gaze around the surrounding area, her eyes settled on a bucket of paint in the rubble of the nearby displays. _It'll have to do_ , she told herself, limping over and using her mana to wedge the lid open. Grabbing a piece of splintered wood, she quickly set to work drawing the required symbols on the ground, letting herself forget about the battle raging around her and hoping the boys would be able to hold Nethersian off long enough for her to finish.

At one point she was sure she felt a presence looming behind her but before she could turn around to check it was gone again, the chill that accompanied Syvux a reassurance that she was safe.

It took longer than expected, but finally the markings were done. With a grimace, she went over to the spot on the pavement covered with red yet to dry – Ben's blood, though she tried not to think about it too much – dabbed a finger in it and smeared as much as she could in the centre of her paint circle. Relaxing her mind and body, Gwen let herself hover in a meditative position, the book floating before her.

" _Reclude, portale alii coeli. te cuium quiditas comparat uoco!"_

As the last word left her lips a circular, spinning vortex appeared above the circle, its form depthless and unending. For a moment she watched in silent anticipation as nothing happened until, finally, something was spat out from within, landing on the ground with a thud and a loud 'oomph'. The vortex closed with an air of finality and silence returned.


	9. Serendipity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves for a little comic relief. Cause we all needed it :P
> 
> Guys, there's only one more chapter left!
> 
> Disclaimed.

Gwen could only stare as the person she'd summoned picked himself off the ground with a grumble, rubbing at his head. This… wasn't what she'd had in mind.

Red eyes settled on her in a scowl. "And what, pray tell, did you bring me here for? While I am grateful you broke me out of prison, I can't say I really enjoyed the trip."

"Albedo?!"

"Ah, so it was a mistake then," Albedo huffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "I really shouldn't be surprised; humans are far from being an intelligent species, and even part-Anodite as you are, you are no exception."

Gwen blinked.

"Let me guess, you were trying to summon Ben?"

She nodded.

"Judging from the fact that the last I saw of you, you were dead, I'm assuming this is another dimension. So what's wrong with your own Ben that you had to drag me here?"

"Um, who is that?" Kevin asked, sparing a moment to investigate the scene playing out not far away. "And why does he look like a teenaged, albino version of Ben?"

"His name is Albedo," Gwen explained, ignoring the Galvan-turned-human's question. "He's a Galvan that tried to steal the Omnitrix and ended up getting stuck like this."

"Ouch, sucks to be you," Kevin winced.

"You have no idea," Albedo replied dryly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy my newfound freedom."

Before Gwen could protest, Albedo turned to leave, only to stop as something grey crashed into him, knocking him off his feet.

"Who dares…?" Albedo growled, looking down at his assailant; a rather disorientated Arkhirathi.

"I apologise," Syvux hauled himself upright, rubbing his head. "I had not intended to be thrown around like some child's play thing."

Albedo looked over in the direction Syvux had come from, eyes landing on the cloaked form of Nethersian, watching them silently.

"Ah, I see," he said, getting back to his feet. "You think you can assault me and get away with it. Normally I would overlook such a thing as inherent stupidity, but this time I don't feel so inclined."

With barely a movement, Albedo activated the Ultimatrix on his wrist, transforming himself the alien the Ben Gwen knew called Clockwork.

It was over in a matter of seconds, although to Albedo it had probably been a lot longer. The power to slow time was handy, indeed. Without surprise, an army or his teleportation ability to rely on, Nethersian truly wasn't that tough of an opponent.

The Galvan hadn't come out of it unscathed, though. From the looks of things he'd taken a few hits and Clockwork wasn't a very durable alien, as they'd learned the hard way when she and Ben had gone looking for Jennifer Nocturne.

With a flash Albedo was back, dusting off his hands as he glared down at a defeated and smouldering Nethersian. He nodded in satisfaction and stalked off, muttering something along the lines of 'there'd better be chilli fries in this dump'.

"That was… rather anticlimactic," Kevin said as they watched him go. "Shouldn't we, I don't know, get him to beat up that other dude, too? I'm betting Ben's in need of a little help right about now."

 

* * *

 

Ben really could have used some help right then. Tetra-thersian, as he'd expected, had eventually caught up and snagged him by the back of the shirt with ease. And now he was dangling from the guy's claw-like hands as he stared into the blackness of his hood (the watch had, thankfully, timed out by that point).

"Um, hi," he said nervously. "Can't we talk about this?"

"We have nothing to talk about," Nethersian replied calmly, but the malice hidden within his words was unmistakable. "Any last words?"

"Just one," Ben said, ceasing his struggling and letting himself go limp. "HYAH!" with as much effort as he could, he kicked the guy in where he assumed his jaw was.

Nethersian cried out at the blow, dropping Ben like a hot stone. The eleven year old didn't waste a second; he was running again as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"You can run, but you can't hide," Nethersian's voice echoed behind him.

Deep down, Ben knew the creep was right. Spotting a metal pole leaning against a half-constructed stand, Ben grabbed it with both hands and turned to face his opponent. He knew he didn't have much of a chance, but he wouldn't give up. The guy had to be stopped – the things the future people had told him about the alien confirmed it; not to mention the whole 'ceasing to exist' thing.

"You're intending to stop me with a pole?" Nethersian chuckled, his voice painfully close to his ear.

Ben reacted without thinking, swinging the rod with all his might. But by the time it reached where the alien had been he was gone again.

"Urgh, would you quit doing that?!" he yelled, trying to relocate the enemy.

"If I asked you to stop resisting, would you?" came the deep voice. Ben swivelled to face the direction it had travelled from. Nethersian was leaning casually against a stack of crates, completely unfazed, even despite the stall owner cowering on the other side of the boxes.

"What do you think?" he snapped back.

"Exactly my point," Nethersian's voice echoed as he teleported once more.

"This is hardly a fair fight!"

"Do you think I care?" Nethersian was suddenly right in front of him, looming down like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

Ben brought up the pole to whack the guy in the head but a sleek hand stopped it mid-strike, tore it from his grip and threw it aside.

"There will be no more of that."

"How about some of this, then?!" and he rammed his head into the alien's gut as hard as he could. It hurt like crazy, aggravating the headache and the dizziness he already had and he stumbled backwards, trying to stop the world from spinning.

Nethersian lunged for him but something pink struck him and he turned his attention to the newcomers. Gwen, Kevin and Syvux were hurrying over, more mana appearing in Gwen's hands as they approached. So they had managed to somehow defeat the other Nethersian, then.

 _That's good,_ Ben thought, losing his balance and falling flat on his back.

With newer and greater threats, Nethersian abandoned his advantage over the eleven year old, lunging for the others.

 _I'll just… rest my eyes… for a second_ , Ben decided. And before he knew it blissful unconsciousness claimed him.

 

* * *

 

Kevin watched as Ben's eyes slid shut. Nethersian, thankfully, had decided to leave the kid alone for a while, opting to play with them, instead. Hand in the shape of a mallet, he met the alien's blow with one of his own, stalling him for only a moment before he made use of his teleportation abilities.

Kevin tried to anticipate where the guy would return but it was impossible to tell. It was only the flash of green from the alien watch that alerted them to his position, but by then he'd already transformed, this time into the alien Ben called XLR8.

Great, now he was super fast _and_ could teleport. Just perfect. Where was that Albedo guy when they needed him?

He'd taken several swift kicks to the… well, to everything before he could even register what had happened and his armour crumbled to dust around him. He reached down to replace it only for another blow, this time to the neck, to send him sprawling and gagging.

"I tire of this childishness," NetheLR8 said, back over where Ben was with barely a movement. "I have what I came for within my clutches." He pressed the claws of one hand into a single, sharp point and thrust downwards, aiming at Ben's chest.

"NO!" Gwen cried, reaching out.

NetheLR8's attack easily shattered the shield she'd placed between him and her cousin, but it was enough to spare the kid from becoming a kebab.

"You are becoming quite the annoyance," NetheLR8 hissed, his focus on her. Before she could react he was in front of her, striking out.

Gwen barely managed to dodge in time, earning a scrape to the cheek for her efforts.

"I won't let you hurt him," she said steely.

"Your dedication is both honourable and sickening," he kicked her legs out from underneath her and she fell to the ground with a short cry.

NetheLR8 easily scooped her up by the blouse and hurled her over in Ben's general direction. Her head smacked against the concrete with a loud crack and she came to a stop. Not moving.

Suddenly overcome with rage, Kevin turned his mallet into a blade and charged the guy, more than ready to slice him in half and get that damn spaceship she'd bribed him with. Then it would all finally be over and he would be able to stop thinking about why he didn't hate the twerp as much as he remembered or why he felt so protective over the red-head he'd only properly met a week ago and who had been so genuinely relieved to see him.

His attack, of course, failed. Not that he hadn't been expecting it to. But he really could have done without the tornado whipped around him and the rather painful crash into a nearby Ferrari. His concentration wavered and the coating he'd replaced around himself fell away.

NetheLR8 'hmph'ed and meandered back over to Ben's prone form. "I would have preferred you be awake so I could hear you scream," he told the boy in an 'oh well, what can you do?' tone of voice.

This time it was Syvux who stopped him, sending a blast of energy right into the alien's back. NetheLR8 stumbled, head swinging around and gaze narrowing on the Arkhirathi. In a flash he had grabbed the ghost-like being by the neck, pounding him into the ground and squeezing tightly, completely ignoring the fact that the watch once more timed out. The sounds of the Arkhirathi's pained gasps as it fought for breath were like music to his ears.

 

* * *

 

He awoke to the sounds of someone choking. His vision was blurry, but the dizziness and the full-body ache had subsided to a dull throb, allowing him to push himself into a sitting position with a bearable level of pain.

The first thing his disorientated mind settled on was the crumpled form of Gwen lying beside him, a gash on her cheek and her clothes ruffled and torn. From the looks of things, she'd hit her head pretty hard, a large bruise forming on her temple.

"Gwen?" he croaked, shaking her shoulder gently. She didn't stir.

He let his gaze travel further across the surrounding scene, trying to let his memories catch up to him and piece together what had happened. Kevin was sprawled out over the smashed hood of a red Ferrari, barely conscious. The choking, he quickly realised, was coming from Syvux, who was squirming against Nethersian's grip as the latter attempted to crush his throat like a soda can.

Overcome with a sudden need to act, Ben took advantage of the adrenaline surging through him and bolted upright. He covered the distance between where he'd been and where the two extraterrestrial beings were and, without much thought, threw himself onto Nethersian's back, wrapping an arm around where he assumed the guy's neck would be and pulling backwards.

The alien immediately ceased his attempt to asphyxiate the Arkhirathi, instead stumbling back upright and thrashing in an attempt to dislodge the sudden extra weight. A well placed elbow smacked into Ben's chest, knocking him to the ground. But he wasn't focused on the pain of skin scraping against concrete.

No, his horrified gaze was locked onto the face that had appeared as soon as Nethersian's hood had been swept off his head.

It was like looking at a mummy without its bandages, Ben decided. That was the best comparison he could come up with. The skin was taut and black, the teeth like rotting spikes of iron (if iron could rot) and the eyes… it would be easier to say he didn't even have any. Just two hollows where eyes should be, and yet Ben could still feel them burning into him, as though they were seeing more than just the surface and burrowing deep, deep down into his very soul.

He was going to have nightmares for weeks, he knew.

Nethersian hissed at him, taking step after step towards him and each one made Ben scuttle back further and further until he hit the base of a display and could retreat no further. He let a hand mindlessly search the area around him for something, anything he could use to defend himself. His allies were all down or unable to help and a part of him didn't want to have to be saved.

 _Come on, Ben,_ he told himself. _You said it yourself that you don't want to be useless, so don't be!_

His hand clasped around something cylindrical and, without pausing to think, he hurled it. The water bottle, as it revealed itself to be, struck Nethersian in the head, spraying him in water.

He expected the alien to chuckle, maybe wipe the water off in irritation, a smirk, a wry comment, something, but nothing like what happened. As soon as the liquid came into contact with that horrible, dry excuse for skin, he started hissing and crying out in pain, clawing at his face like he intended to tear it right off.

Ben watched with sick fascination as steam or smoke of some kind rose from the alien's face, burning it and making it flake away like dust on the wind. Nethersian cried out in agony, looking through the gaps in his fingers at where Ben still sat.

"You will pay for that, you brat!" he cried, letting one hand fall from his face and reaching towards the eleven year old.

Ben, too horrified to move, could do nothing but watch as the skeletal appendage grabbed him by the front of the shirt, sharp digits piercing into his flesh and making blood swell up in sharp contrast to the white of his shirt. Ben screamed at the pain, desperately willing it to stop.

Even as the seconds passed and the blood continued to trickle from the wound, Nethersian continued to fall away piece by piece. Half his face was missing by the time he pulled his hand from his victim's chest, making to pierce him again, this time aiming for the face. Ignorant of everything except the all consuming pain, Ben shut his eyes tight and prepared himself for the blow.

" _Aqua exilī_ ," Gwen croaked from where she was still lying on the ground, hand stretched towards her cousin's assailant.

Nethersian's bloodied hand stopped mere inches from Ben's face as the blast of water struck him from behind. Ben curled in on himself at the horrible, agonised cry that tore from what was left of the alien's mouth. Something fell heavily on him and then all was silence.


	10. Valediction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we're done! It feels so weird having spent AGES working on it and then getting it posted so quickly :P I hope you've all enjoyed the ride and I would like to thank you all for your support :3
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own Ben 10 or the Wizard of Oz

Nethersian was gone. All that remained of him was a pile of ash-like flakes that had once been his body and his tattered cloak, which now covered the small form of Ben Tennyson.

Gwen caught her breath slowly – that spell had taken quite a bit out of her already depleted reserves. When she was sure she could move without falling back down again, she slowly shifted until her hands were beneath her and pushed herself upright before crawling over to where Ben sat.

"Ben?" she asked gently, pulling the cloak off of him. Her breath hitched at the blood stain across his chest but forced herself to focus on the fact that he was still alive and breathing, even despite how pale he was. "Are you okay?"

The answer was an obvious 'no', but she needed to hear him speak, to reassure herself that there was still something there to be saved. She'd come so close to losing him again that she was shaking.

"I… I'm okay," he managed, all half-lidded eyes and blank faced, like he was reliving a nightmare or about to fall into one. She hadn't gotten a good look of the face behind the shadows but from the way he'd reacted it couldn't have been anything good.

"You're going to be fine," she reassured him. There were sirens blaring in the distance – someone had probably thought to call the police. That was good. They would be able to get him help. "Just try not to move for now, okay?"

He nodded numbly. "Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome."

"Very nicely done, Gwendolyn."

Gwen turned at the familiar, but unexpected voice. Professor Paradox stood beside her, surveying the scene. Nearby, Kevin and Syvux staggered to their feet and slowly made their way over.

"Paradox," she blinked.

"I thought you said the time-stream was too messed up or something for you to come here," Kevin remarked.

"It was then. This moment, however, requires my presence," Paradox explained.

"You sure that was an evil alien emperor and not the wicked witch of the west?" Kevin asked, looking down at the remains of the enemy that had caused them so much trouble.

"Very funny," Gwen deadpanned. Her eyes widened in realisation. "The other Nethersian–"

"Is no more," Paradox interrupted. "He and this Nethersian were of the same timeline, but one from the distant future. So when this one was destroyed, the other faded out of existence."

They were all silent as they took it all in.

"So… it's over?" Ben murmured.

"Yes, young Ben," Paradox said, leaning down so they were level and placing a light hand on his shoulder. "Now how about we get you fixed up and sent home?"

"Wait," Gwen knelt down next to him. "I want to say goodbye."

Paradox nodded. "As you wish."

"It was nice to see you again," Gwen told the hazy boy. "Even if I don't miss your attitude."

"You're a lot cooler than the dweeb," Ben half-grinned at her. "Thanks for… for coming to save me."

"Anytime."

"And don't forget, Tennyson," Kevin added, "if you get into trouble again we'll just keep coming back until you get it right."

"And you're a lot less homicidal than Kevin 11," Ben told him. "But that doesn't mean I like you!" he hastily added.

"Yeah, I don't like you either."

They were both smiling, though.

"At first I did not fully understand what it was that my other self saw in you that made m- him hold you in such high regard," Syvux said after a moment's pause. "But I think I'm beginning to see it now. It was good to have met you, Ben Tennyson."

"Yeah, ditto."

"Well, if you're all done, I think it's time to go," Paradox broke in. And in a flash of light they were gone.

"That deals with one problem," Paradox's voice called from where he stepped out from behind the display Ben had been leaning against. "Ben will wake up in the morning thinking it was all a ba dream. I took the liberty of putting the Omnitrix in the shoebox in his cupboard." He winked at Gwen knowingly. It was only then that she realised the piece of alien tech wasn't amongst the remains.

"You're really freaky, you know that?" Kevin told him. Paradox ignored him.

"I have already located and sent the Albedo you summoned home, and now I believe it is time to do the same for the rest of you. Kevin and Syvux will have to come with me, but Gwen, all you have to do is take off that bracelet."

"Take care, you two," Gwen smiled at the two companions that were both similar and yet still very different to the ones waiting for her back home. "And thank you for everything. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Yeah, well, it was more fun than dealing with whiny contacts," Kevin shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't stir up too much trouble, Kev."

"No promises."

"And Syvux, I hope you manage to find your way home again. If your timeline is anything like mine, there are still people waiting for you."

Syvux nodded. "I hope you are right."

"All set then?" Paradox checked his watch.

"Yep, all ready to go," Kevin replied, taking one last look around.

"Very well then. This shan't take a moment," with one hand on Kevin's shoulder and the other on Syvux's, Paradox warped them away.

"My turn," Gwen murmured, feeling sad despite herself. It wasn't like she wasn't going to see them again; they were all waiting for her, Ben included. Even if they were different ones, they were still the same.

Preparing herself, she slipped off the bracelet and let the strands of time do their work.

If she were to describe the feeling of suddenly being pulled through time in one word it would be disorientating. But that sensation was quickly shoved to the back of her mind as she found herself clinging to the wide-eyed form of her sixteen year old cousin.

"Ben!" she cried, tears in her eyes as she wrapped him in a deep embrace. "You're okay!"

"Um, I think so?" Ben replied, sounding very confused.

"Someone want to explain to me what just happened?" Kevin asked, moving over to them as he dusted himself off.

Gwen released her cousin and hugged him, too. "I'm so glad to see you," she whispered.

"Why? Where did I go?"

Gwen just smiled cryptically.

"Where did Nethersian go?" Syvux gazed around suspiciously.

"He's gone and dealt with," Gwen said with relief.

The three boys watched her with raised eyebrows.

"Am I the only one who feels like they're missing something?" Ben asked.

"It's a long story."

"Okaaaay… you can tell it over breakfast," he turned and started limping away from the rubble around them like it didn't even exist. "I still want that smoothie!"

Gwen shook her head fondly and raced to catch up.

"Um, hello, my car is still wrecked!" Kevin gestured at the sad remains of the Challenger.

"And are we just going to ignore all this damage?" Syvux added.

"It's what we usually do," Ben told him over his shoulder, gesturing for the two of them to hurry up. "And Kevin, your car's been wrecked so many times now I bet you could put it back together blindfolded."

Kevin just scowled at him.

Gwen savoured the moment; relieved beyond belief that everything had gone back to normal. Well, normal for them, anyway. But she still had something to do.

"Hey, Kevin? Where can I get a spaceship?"

 

* * *

 

Gwen knocked on the door to the rebel base, Paradox by her side. At first she'd been surprised that the timeline her world had turned into still existed, but Paradox, upon his return, had reassured her that there were an endless amount of different timelines and dimensions and that they wouldn't cease to exist altogether. It took a while, but eventually the door swung open to reveal Grandpa Max, a large blaster in hand as if he'd been expecting a more hostile visitor.

"Gwen?" he frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, it's me," Gwen smiled. "Well, the _other_ me."

Max stepped aside, gesturing for the two of them to come in. "What are you doing here? Did something go wrong again? And who's your friend?"

"I would be the transportation," Paradox said good naturedly. "It's a lot harder to use mana and natural energy to transport technology across dimensions and time-streams, after all."

"His name is Paradox," Gwen explained. "And no, everything's fine. I just have a promise to keep."

"Oh?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me where to find Kevin."

"He's here, actually," Max said, leading them through the twisting hallways. "When he and your plus one got back they were somewhat inspired and started a plan to take down the emperor. Everyone here and the base were more than willing to hear them out and we figured it was worth a shot."

He entered a short code into the panel by a metal sliding door, unlocking it. As soon as it opened everyone inside paused what they were doing and looked up.

She would never get used to looking at herself, Gwen decided as she locked eyes with the her from this timeline. This Gwen was a little different from her – shorter hair and wearing more suitable clothing for the sneaking around and rebel-things that she no doubt took part in.

"Um, hi," other-her greeted.

"Hey," she smiled back.

"Don't tell me he messed up again," Kevin groaned, and Gwen looked over at him. He was standing behind the large table in the centre of the room, going over some kind of map or diagram.

"Actually, I came back to give you this," she pulled a pair of keys out of her pocket and threw them to him.

Kevin caught them easily and stared at them in confusion. "Keys?"

"To your spaceship."

His head shot up.

"A promise is a promise," she shrugged.

He looked like he wanted to spin around and do a dance, but instead contained himself and raced out of the room towards the entrance, calling, "Where is it?!"

"This way," Gwen directed, leading him and all the curious rebels out of the base. "So you're going to take out the emperor?" she asked as they walked.

"Well, the two we beat up weren't the one from here, and now we know what his weakness is, we figured why not? It's not like living this way is fun for any of us, right? It would probably be easier if we had our own Ben, but not much we can do about that, right?"

"I'm really the wrong person to talk to," Gwen sighed, glancing back at Paradox who was conversing with the other her. "Time travel is confusing," she grimaced.

"I'll say."


End file.
